


Anthem of Youth~ An IDOLiSH7 High School AU Story

by AwkwardPlatypus13



Series: MELODiOUS MEMORiES~ an IDOLiSH7 High School AU [1]
Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Romantic Fluff, School Festivals, School Idol Clubs, Secret Relationship, Singing Competition, sibling angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:48:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 32,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22899031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwkwardPlatypus13/pseuds/AwkwardPlatypus13
Summary: What if instead of Takanashi, Yaotome, and Tsukumo Productions, they were high schools? What if IDOLiSH7, TRIGGER, and ZOOL were all high schoolers trying to make their break into the idol world?Join me in my first installment of my IDOLiSH7 High School AU! In this story, the three high schools are joining together, and interacting for the first time, to host a sing-off competition during their festival. Will love bloom between i7's manager Tsumugi and TRIGGER's Gaku? Who will win the competition when ZOOL will stoop to any means to secure their victory?
Relationships: Kujou Ten & Nanase Riku, Takanashi Tsumugi/Yaotome Gaku, hints of Momo/Yuki (IDOLiSH7)
Series: MELODiOUS MEMORiES~ an IDOLiSH7 High School AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1645912
Comments: 33
Kudos: 34





	1. CHAPTER 0- AU Character Profiles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a chapter to be used if you need to remember quick details about the main characters in this AU. The real fun starts in the next chapter. :D

*Takanashi High*

Nikaido Yamato- 17, third year, President of the idol club, member of the theater club  
Izumi Mitsuki- 17, third year, general member of the idol club, President of the cooking club,  
Takanashi Tsumugi- 16, second year, daughter of Takanashi High’s founder, manager for the idol club  
Izumi Iori- 16, second year, Vice President of the idol club, student president, President of the school beautification club  
Osaka Sougo- 16, second year, treasurer of idol club, (forced) Vice President of the King Pudding club, President of the Music Appreciation club  
Nagi Von Northmeir- 16, second year, international student, general member of idol club, President of the anime club  
Momo- 16, second year, President of the soccer club, occasionally helps out the idol club  
Yotsuba Tamaki-15, first year, general member of the idol club, President of King Pudding club  
Nanase Riku- 15, first year, general member of the idol club  
Oogami Banri- 27, music teacher, faculty adviser for idol club

*Yaotome High*

Yuki- 17, third year, President of the music club  
Yaotome Gaku- 17, third year, son of Yaotome High’s founder, Vice President of the music club  
Tsunashi Ryuunosuke- 17, third year, member of music club, President of the swim club  
Anesagi Kaoru- 17, third year, general member of music club  
Kujo Tenn- 15, first year, general member of the music club  
Okazaki Rinto- 27, vocal coach, faculty adviser for the music club

*Tsukumo Idol Prep School*

Tsukumo Ryou- 18, third year, son of Tsukumo Prep's founder, manager of idol club  
Midou Torao - 17, third year, student president, general member of idol club, member of the swim club  
Inumaru Touma - 16, second year, President of idol club  
Natsume Minami- 16, second year, general member of idol club  
Isumi Haruka- 15, first year, Vice President of idol club


	2. Club Meetings

“Tamaki-kun, please don’t make us late again!” an exasperated boy with white hair clutched two book bags under one arm and tugged along a lethargic blue-haired boy by his wrist.

“We’ll get there in time, Sou-chan,” Tamaki said through a yawn. “You always get us to first period in the nick of time.”

“Yes, but in my first year I used to get to class at least ten minutes early!” Sougo decided to drop the issue, as Tamaki clearly wasn’t listening.

“Sougo-kun, Tamaki-kun!” a short orange-haired boy called out as the two quickly changed shoes.

“Ah, good morning, senpai!” Sougo replied as he shoved Tamaki’s shoes into his locker.

“Mornin’ Mikki,” Tamaki said casually as he slipped on his other school shoe.

“Morning, guys!” Mitsuki replied cheerfully, clapping the two on their backs. “Don’t forget, we have a club meeting during free period today! I’ll see you then!” He waved goodbye as he jogged off to class.

As Sougo and Tamaki hurried to get to their classrooms, Sougo stopped suddenly, causing Tamaki to bump into him. The class president Iori stood at the bottom of the staircase, glowering at them as they were about to split up.

“I do wish you two would make the effort to arrive on time,” Iori said, shaking his head solemnly. "And also not run in the halls."

“But we still got a couple minutes until class starts!” Tamaki retorted. “Besides, Shimooka-sensei takes a long time to do roll call. And we even beat Yama-san coming into school today.”

“Let’s not argue and just get to class, Tamaki-kun,” Sougo whispered before turning to Iori. “Please forgive us, Iori-kun,” he said with a short bow, “I had to help him find his misplaced homework again. I’ll try to get us here sooner tomorrow.”

“I suppose it is an improvement if Yotsuba-san actually did his homework…” Iori sighed as he walked with Sougo to their classroom.

~~~~~

Earlier that day, at a high school not far away…

A motorcycle pulled into the school parking lot and parked right next to where a tall brown-haired teen had been standing. A little distance away was a group of girls watching and softly squealing as the tall boy smiled widely. The boy on the motorcycle got off, then took off his helmet and ran a hand through his silvery white hair, sending the girls into an almost swooning state. "Hey, Ryuu," he said with a crooked grin, "did you forget to brush your hair this morning?"

"Eh?" Ryuunosuke felt the top of his head and sighed. "Seems I did. I slept in since I was up late talking with Soutaro. He's having some girl trouble."

"Heh, poor kid," Gaku chuckled and began walking towards the school.

“Ah, Gaku!” Ryuu called out and jogged after him. “Shouldn’t we wait for Tenn?”

“When have I ever waited for Tenn to show up?” Gaku asked rhetorically. “He gets here when that creep of a dad decides to drop him off.”

“He isn’t _that bad_ …” Ryuu tried to soften the words of his friend, but trailed off as he remembered the last time he saw Kujou Takamasa at night, almost looking like a vampire. “In any case, I think that’s his car right there.”

Sure enough, a black SUV pulled up to the front of the school and let off a young yet stern-faced teen. A middle school aged girl yelled and waved goodbye from the back window, but was pulled back in by a teen boy with mint hair.

“Tenn!” Ryuunosuke called out and waved at the boy who had gotten out. Gaku rolled his eyes and followed as he started walking back towards his friend.

“Ah, Ryuu, Gaku, good morning,” Tenn smiled lightly as the three began walking towards the school together.

“Was that your sister and brother waving to you?” Ryuu smiled. “Reminds me of when my brothers used to send me off when I was in my first year.”

“That was just Aya waving. Haruka doesn’t say much to me,” Tenn replied plainly.

“Must be nice to have someone wave goodbye when you leave,” Gaku grumbled.

“Well if you wouldn’t lead the girls around,” Tenn gestured to the group of girls who were now following them, “you might have a girlfriend who would be more than happy to do that. Then again, you don’t have the brains to keep a girlfriend.”

“I’d like to see you do better!” Gaku began trying to get in his face.

“C’mon, guys,” Ryuu chuckled as he casually walked between them. “We’re gonna be late for class. Oh, and by the way, Kaoru-chan texted me. She said Okazaki-sensei told her Yuki is having a club meeting in the music room after school today.”

“Eh? Isn’t today Friday? We usually don’t meet until Monday.” Gaku put his school shoes away and put on his school pair.

“Vice President and you don’t even know why our president is calling a club meeting,” Tenn muttered tauntingly as he slipped off his shoes.

“I’m sure he just forgot to text him, like last time. We better hurry, class starts soon!” Ryuu ushered his two friends along before they had time to pick up their bickering.

~~~~~

“Oh, just one more selfie, please!” A teen girl in a Takanashi High uniform whined as she clung to the arm of a rather dashing blonde.

“You’ve already had three poses with him! We have a meeting to get to!” Mitsuki protested and pulled on the blonde’s other arm.

“ _OH_ , Mitsuki! You know I can’t deny the pleas of a lady! Just one more!”

“Nagiiiii!!!” Mitsuki put all of his strength into yanking Nagi away from his admirers, which resulted in Mitsuki almost falling over as Nagi got slingshotted right into Yamato, who had been leaning against the wall watching.

“Urgk!” Yamato shoved Nagi off himself and brushed off his clothes. “Geez, Mitsuki, with that arm you should be in the baseball club instead of in the cooking club.”

“I would have, if the sports club wouldn’t have convinced everyone I was too short.” Mitsuki spoke with clear disdain as he led Nagi along by the sleeve.

“The sports world is too cruel! Mitsuki is too kind and good for them!”

“Ahaha, you’re too nice too, you dope,” Mitsuki’s mood switched and he let go of Nagi’s sleeve." What do you think this meeting is about anyways?”

“Tsumugi-chan mentioned that there was some announcement she wanted to make,” Yamato piped up.

“Nikaido-san!” a voice from behind them came closer. “Your uniform is not in proper shape! Your shirt is untucked, and that sweat jacket tied around your waist is not a part of the dress code! You should be wearing either the school blazer or the school sweater.”

“Do you ever rest from being Mr. Perfect Ichi?” Yamato asked lazily as he half-heartedly tucked his shirt in. “It’s free period, can’t I have a break from rules?”

“Taking a break from rules would lead to disorder!” Iori insisted, stopping a moment to pick up a piece of litter and throwing it out.

Yamato shrugged and finished off the rest of his root beer, tossing the empty can at the trash bin. It bounced off the rim and landed on the floor. Iori picked it up and hurried in front of him.

“You dropped this,” he said, forcing the can on him.

“I—ugh, fine,” Yamato relented and threw the can away properly.

The four finally arrived at the auditorium where the idol club held their meetings. Sitting in the front rows were four others: Tamaki and Sougo, a red-haired boy, and a blonde girl. As soon as she caught sight of them, the blonde waved them over with a big smile.

“Wonderful, everyone is here now! Thank you for finding them, Iori-kun.”

“Of course, Takanashi-chan, as Vice President of this club, it is my duty to assist in gathering tardy members.”

“Well now that everyone is here,” the redheaded Riku began, “can we share the news?”

“You’re the center, Center!” Mitsuki laughed. “Do whatever you want.”

“Alright, then,” Riku turned, “Tsumugi-chan, you’re better at explaining, go ahead.”

“Ah, okay,” she stood up in front of the group and cleared her throat. “As you all should know, it is getting close to when our school should be holding our annual festival. Well, this year the nearby high schools are partnering up with ours to hold a combined festival for charity. In addition, Oogami-sensei has assisted us in challenging not only Yaotome High, but also Tsukumo Prep, to a sing-off!”

~~~~~~

“IDOLiSH7?” a tall third year in a Tsukumo Prep blazer questioned. “What kind of name is that?”

“And I didn’t even know Yaotome High had an idol group,” another student added, arms crossed. “Who even are they, Touma?”

“That’s because it isn’t officially supported by the school, Haruka,” Touma replied. “They have a music club. Isn’t your brother a part of it? Doesn’t he tell you anything?”

“We’re just foster brothers. We aren’t obligated to talk.” Haruka scowled even more and slumped against the wall of the backstage area of a large auditorium.

“Can I get back to explaining what the rest of Ryou-san’s memo says?” the fourth member Minami patiently asked.

“Just one more interruption,” spoke the tall one.

“Go ahead, Torao.”

“Why isn’t Ryou telling us this himself?”

“He had claimed he needed to go convince his father to increase the budget of our club to ensure our victory. Now if that satisfies your curiosity, I will continue. Each group will sing one song at each of the three participating schools. Everyone attending will vote for who they think sang the best, and whichever group gets the most votes wins. Half of the money we raise through ticket sales will go to the charity the winning school is sponsoring. The other half will go to the winning idol group.”

“That leaves the other two groups with nothing!” Touma exclaimed. “That’s rough.”

“Which is exactly why our manager has told us we need to do everything possible to win,” Minami went on. “He was specific in his notes to say that he wants Haruka to get as much information out of Kujou Tenn as he can on who of the music club will be participating.”

~~~~~

“So we finally get to see what the other schools’ idols are like,” Tenn murmured as Yuki relaxedly explained the competition to the Yaotome High music club.

“As you all know,” Yuki went on, “I would rather just sit back and compose music. That means that Gaku-kun, Ryuu-kun, and Tenn-kun are on their own with this. Of course, Kaoru-chan will act as their manager and will help them set everything up. Since TRIGGER is not officially recognized by the school, I’ll leave pretty much everything else in the hands of our vice president Gaku. But before that, I will be going with you to visit the other schools as a formality, just to show comradery between schools.”

~~~~~

“And so, we will be welcoming both TRIGGER and ZOOL today to see our auditorium and take any simple requests for what equipment might be needed for their performances.” Tsumugi looked at the notes on her clipboard. “TRIGGER will be here at 4:00, and ZOOL at 4:45.”

“That gives us only a half hour to get this auditorium looking immaculate!” Iori realized, which sent both him and Sougo into a frenzy starting to think of how to get everything tidy and clean in time.

“That means Tenn-nii and I are going to be able to talk for once!” Riku said quietly to himself.


	3. First Encounters

Kujou Tenn and Nanase Riku are actually twins, despite their seemingly opposite personalities and appearances. Their parents allowed Kujou Takamasa, an influential man in the music industry, to take him in as his own and pay for his education at Yaotome High, a prestigious school known for preparing students to be well-trained professionals in the arts. Takanashi High was still a good public school, known for its idol club, but it still wasn’t the best. Meanwhile Tsukumo Prep only accepted those truly willing to go down the grueling path of idols, and even then only a select few of the students were allowed to participate in the official idol club.

Sooner than the Takanashi students wished, 4:00 came, and a bus from Yaotome high dropped Yuki, Gaku, Ryuu, Tenn, and Kaoru off in front of the high school, where the eight members of the idol club were anxiously waiting.

“Welcome to Takanashi High! I’m the center for IDOLiSH7, Nanase Riku! This is our club president Nikaido Yamato. These are the rest of our group-mates and our manager, Takanashi Tsumugi.”

At the mention of her full name, Tsumugi blushed and squeaked out a polite greeting and bow. She felt a burning stare from someone and glanced around as she stood up straight. It was Gaku, who seemed to be taking in every detail about her that he possibly could.

Tenn elbowed Gaku in the ribs, which broke Gaku’s concentration and caused him to elbow Tenn in reply. Yuki introduced himself, and Ryuunosuke put his arms around Gaku’s and Tenn’s shoulders, getting between them to prevent their fighting.

“I’m Tsunashi Ryuunosuke,” he said with a warm smile, “and this is Yaotome Gaku our club’s Vice President, and Kujou Tenn. We will be in your care this visit, thank you for having us!”

“Those three will be the ones actually performing under the name TRIGGER,” Yuki explained. “I am merely their senpai this time. And this is Anesagi Kaoru, who acts as the group’s manager. Now that the introductions are done, I’ll be taking my leave.” With a wave goodbye and a few more polite words, Yuki got on the bus right before it drove away.

“Well, then I guess we can start the tour?” Riku said.

“Sure, show us around,” Gaku replied while looking at Tsumugi, making her blush once again.

Yamato, with a slightly forced smile stepped between Gaku and Tsumugi and replied, let’s start with showing you where the auditorium is.”

“Sounds logical,” Gaku responded with a similar expression.

The tour commenced, with Riku trying to lead the tour but also trying to talk to Tenn. Iori ended up taking over due to losing patience in the sporadic approach Riku was taking. Meanwhile Gaku tried to walk as closely to Tsumugi as he could without being too obvious, waiting for a chance to maybe talk to her alone.

“You getting any of this, lover boy?” Tenn whispered to Gaku in a sarcastic tone.

“Kaoru-chan and Ryuu are paying plenty good enough attention,” he retorted. “Go buzz near someone else’s ear, little shoulder angel.”

“Did you say something, Yaotome-san?” Tsumugi turned to face him.

“Ah, uh, y-yeah, I was...just wondering where you kept all of your stage decorations,” he smoothly came up with a semi-reasonable question.

“Oh, Iori-kun pointed it out a little while ago. If you’re really that curious, I can go back and show you again.”

“Sure, lead the way!” he slightly bowed and gestured for her to move forward. Once she had passed him, he shot Tenn a smugly satisfied grin before turning to follow her. Ryuu just regretfully shook his head and went back to listening to Iori prattle on.

“It was just right over here. We don’t have many, but we take good care of the decorations we do have.” Tsumugi took him back to a small sectioned-off corner of the backstage area. “We actually recently got the budget approved to buy new decorations for the festival. Though we will probably make some decorations ourse—” her voice trailed off as she realized Gaku was staring at her intensely again. “I-is something wrong, Yaotome-san?”

“Takanashi…” he finally spoke. “So are you related to the founder of your school?”

“Y-yes, he’s my father. And you're the son of Yaotome High’s founder.”

“If you can call my old man a father,” Gaku scoffed. “But in any case, I don’t want to talk about him.” He took a step towards her, and she instinctively took a step back. Noticing this he took two steps back himself. “Ah, sorry, I don’t intend on doing anything untoward. I just wanted to learn more about you.”

“To get me to leak information about IDOLiSH7?” Tsumugi asked outright.

“Oof, that cut deep,” Gaku said with genuine regret. “I don’t lie. I honestly am just curious about you. I have enough confidence in TRIGGER that your group isn’t enough of a threat for me to even dream of using dishonest means to get an advantage over you.”

Tsumugi was slightly annoyed that he was seemingly underestimating her friends, but she was also curious to learn more about him. “What do you want to know?”

“Too much than could be said before the others notice we’re gone. How about we meet somewhere and have a conversation over some coffee or parfaits, whatever you like.”

“Ah, I-I don’t know about that,” she replied reluctantly.

“It would be completely in the public, just for a half hour, please,” he flashed his most genuine and warm smile he could.

Her guard weakened and she relented. “There is a new parfait spot in town I have been meaning to try...”

“Great, meet me at 3:00 on Saturday.” He pulled out his smartphone. “We can exchange emails and you can send me the name of it.”

“Ah, okay,” she pulled out her flip phone and exchanged information with him.

“There ya are!” Tamaki jogged over. “Didja get lost?”

“Oh, I—”

“Takanashi-chan just thought she lost her bracelet while she was showing me the decorations again. We found it and were just about to meet up with the group,” Gaku smoothly created a cover story and ushered Tamaki onward.

“I thought you said you don’t lie,” Tsumugi chided quietly.

“That was to protect both of us. You wouldn’t want everyone else knowing we were meeting up and thinking something untrue, which would be worse than me telling a fib here.”

Tsumugi saw his point, so she didn’t press it any further. They joined the rest of the group on the stage, where Iori was currently listing off the stage dimensions for Kaoru’s notes.

“It’s smaller than ours, so we’ll have to rework some of the choreography, but we can make it work. I think that is about all we need to know, don’t you think, boys?” Kaoru said as she capped her pen.

“Do you have extra seating in case you go over capacity?” Tenn inquired, staring Riku down. “We have a large following, and I would hate to see any fans turned away at the door.”

Riku stumbled over his words, shocked that Tenn finally said something to him. Sougo covered for him, replying, “We will have an outdoor screening area with extra seating in the shade if we go over capacity.”

Satisfied with this reply, Tenn turned on his heel and said, “We will be back for rehearsals, our manager will be in touch. Ryuu, Gaku, let’s go start planning.”

“Eh, thank you for the tour, everyone,” Ryuu tried to smooth over Tenn’s briskness. “Good luck getting everything ready for your festival!”

“Wow, they were kind of arrogant,” Mitsuki commented after they said goodbye to TRIGGER and Kaoru.

“I wouldn’t exactly call it arrogance,” Sougo said contemplatively. “They were respectful, but they seemed very confident in each other. You have to be impressed with that, especially when their center is only a first year.”

“Yeah, but our center is a first year too,” Tamaki piped up. “We can do just as great as those guys!”

“Let’s not get too comfortable, everyone,” Iori warned, “We have yet to meet ZOOL, and they are set to arrive any minute.”

They waited around, but nobody showed up at 4:45. It wasn’t until they were about to give up on waiting that a fancy white limousine pulled up twenty-five minutes late.

Relieved, Riku stepped forward as four teens exited the car. “Welcome to Taka—”

“This is the front of the school? Tch, I’m embarrassed to even tell our fans to buy tickets to this dump. They don’t even have a fountain.”

“Now, Haruka, let’s not be so rude,” Minami said like an uninterested mother. “Not all schools are as fortunate.”

“Eh, it’s alright,” Torao shrugged. “It’s just one song, we just have to smile and wave and be done.”

“How about we don’t talk about this right in the earshot of our hosts?” Touma gestured with his head at the now disgruntled group of students waiting for them. “Besides, it seems nice here,” he said a little louder to emphasize his point.

“Keep yourself calm, Nii-san,” Iori whispered to Mitsuki before stepping forward and forcing a gracious smile. “Welcome to our humble Takanashi High School! ZOOL, am I correct?”

“Yeah, we’re ZOOL,” Haruka crossed his arms while puffing his chest out.

Touma stepped in front of him and roughly shook Iori’s outstretched hand. “Nice to meet ya, I’m Inumaru Touma.”

As Touma continued introducing the rest of his group mates and Iori did likewise, Torao slid right over to Tsumugi who had been lingering slightly behind the rest. “And who is this little kitten hiding in the back?”

Before Tsumugi could even stumble out an answer, Yamato, Riku, and Nagi closed in like a pack of guard dogs. “She’s our manager,” Riku responded, arms crossed. “And very dear to us,” Yamato added, patting the top of Tsumugi’s head. “So please, act like a gentleman around her,” Nagi finished, standing directly between Torao and Tsumugi.

Torao took a few steps back, “Okay, I get the picture, guys, I see she’s obviously taken. Didn't realize we stumbled into a reverse harem.”

“I—it’s not anything like that!” Riku stumbled to say, “Tsumugi-chan isn’t in a relationship with any of us.”

“Why don’t we begin the tour now,” Sougo interrupted to save any more embarrassment. “We wouldn't want to waste our guests’ time with idle chatter.”

The boys began the tour, but the members of ZOOL were quite uninterested for most of it. Minami just passively looked at everything and didn’t speak much. Touma tried to make nice conversation, but was often undercut by Haruka’s sarcastic commentary. Torao had no interest except for the girls they passed in the halls or for Tsumugi, who the boys kept within a short distance from to prevent him from flirting any further.

“Then we will see you at 4:45 on Monday when we visit your school. Farewell!” Tsumugi waved goodbye to the Tsukumo students as they got into their car and barely said anything in return. Only Touma tried to put effort into his goodbye by adding a ”thanks” at the end.

“Wow, what a difference they were from TRIGGER,” Sougo murmured.

“At least they seemed like they wanted to be a part of this competition. ZOOL seemed to not care about any of this.” Yamato pondered aloud.

"I have a feeling this competition is going to go roughly if their attitude stays the same as it was today," Iori said pensively.

“I’m really curious what their school is like,” Mitsuki added. “I wonder if everyone there is like that just because they are a fancy school.”

“Well, no matter what, we are gonna give it our all in this competition!” Riku said with a flair of confidence, inciting the rest of them to cheer in agreement.


	4. Parfait Time Together

Saturday arrived, and the Takanashi idol club was just finishing their practice session. They had decided to use one of their newer songs, “Viva Fantastic Life!!!!!!!”, for the competition so that they could gain more advertisement for their upcoming single. Tomorrow they would visit Yaotome High and Monday Tsukumo Prep, leaving the rest of their day free. Except for Tsumugi, that is. Despite her better judgement, and against the image of her father glowering at any male who stared too long at his only daughter, she had sent Gaku the information on the cafe she had wanted to try. 

“I’m sorry, Yamato-kun, I appreciate the offer to walk me home, but I have a few errands I need to go on first.”

“I could carry your bags for you then,” Yamato got dangerously close to her ear and sharply exhaled through his mouth as he leaned in to take her book bag, making her squeal softly and cringe back. “Heh, just kidding. Good luck with your errands,” he said with a smirk before running off to where Mitsuki and Nagi were. 

Tsumugi breathed a sigh and went into the bathroom to change. She almost chose to just show up in her school uniform, but Gaku’s words about people getting the wrong idea flashed in her mind. It would be better to not be seen associating too closely with the son of a rival school’s principal, especially when that son is one of the most talked about boys among high schoolers within the vicinity. She changed into a modest frilly blouse, a pencil skirt, and a pair of short heels. Hurrying off school property before anyone saw her in a date-worthy outfit, Tsumugi prayed she wasn’t doing something incredibly stupid. 

Meanwhile Gaku was just drying off from a shower at the school after completing a grueling dance practice. 

“You don’t usually take that long of a shower after practice, was the water especially warm today?” Ryuunosuke asked as he gathered his swim cap and towel to head to the swimming club.

“Nah, I just felt like it,” Gaku responded flatly as he started getting dressed.

“Wait, isn’t that your pair of lucky socks? You only wear those on concert days or test days. Or if you ever go on—”

“Ryuu, have fun at your swimming practice.”

“Haha, okay okay, good luck,” seeing his curiosity was shut down, Ryuu smiled warmly and headed out. 

“Last person I need to know who I am meeting is him. Can’t keep a secret to save his life.” Gaku finished getting ready and retrieved his motorcycle from the parking lot. His hand slightly shook as he put his key into the ignition. “Why do I feel nervous? Concerts have way more at stake than this.”

The truth was, this was the first time Gaku had ever been truly interested enough in a girl to ask her out. Sure, nearly every girl in his high school had been vying for his attention since his first year, and it had gotten even worse since he started TRIGGER that year with Ryuu and Tenn. Sure, he dealt out plenty of fanservice and even flirted around with many of the girls, but none of the girls seemed interesting or genuine. It was different from the moment he first locked eyes with Tsumugi. Her gaze was kind, almost inviting, like a mother offering her child a hug. He was also taken aback that she knew who he was, yet didn’t seem to act differently towards him just because of who his father was and the reputation TRIGGER had built. She carried herself like a lady, though a bit timid; it gave him a visceral desire to protect her for the rest of his life. 

The motorcycle drive to the cafe gave him time to relax and mentally prepare for what could be considered his first date. He arrived first and decided to wait outside so that he could see her as soon as possible. 

Not even five minutes later, Tsumugi came walking up the street to the front of the cafe. “Oh, I’m not late, am I?” she asked worriedly at the sight of Gaku fiddling with his shirt buttons and leaning against the side of the building. 

His head whipped up and he stood up straight “Woah, uh—I” he stumbled over his words as he stared at Tsumugi. 

“I-is something wrong?” she asked even more concerned, frantically looking down at her outfit and smoothing down her hair. “I had to walk here right after helping the boys with practice so I’m sor—”

“You look great!” Gaku assured her with a chuckle. “I was just surprised you weren’t in your school uniform. And you weren’t late either.”

Tsumugi relaxed a little and nervously giggled. “I’m glad you found this place okay. I was afraid my directions weren’t clear enough.”

“They were perfect. May I take your bag?” he offered with a debonair smile. 

“Ah, th-thank you, it’s a bit heavy,” she gently set the handles in his outstretched hand. Their hands brushed each other as he grasped it, making her blush. He merely grinned all the wider. He held the door open for her and they found a small table in the corner of the room. “Do you eat parfaits very often, Yaotome-kun?”

“Please, call me by my first name,” Gaku said with a twinge. “Everyone else does, so it is just a bit strange to hear my surname. “But no, I don’t really have a lot of sweet things like this. I’d rather just fill up on more soba and maybe have a couple strawberries after,” he said with a lighter tone. 

“Ah, I see, sorry I suggested parfaits...maybe I should have said we could go to a soba restaurant instead,” Tsumugi slightly hung her head regretfully. 

“No, no, this is fine!” Gaku shook his head vehemently. “We had a really hard practice today so I am hungry enough to eat anything! Please, order whatever you want, my treat. I’m sure there’s something I’ll enjoy too. Besides, my mom’s dad owns a soba shop, so I already spend a lot of time there.”

She smiled and picked up the menu in front of her. “Ah, Yao—G-Gaku-kun, you said you like strawberries, right?” She leaned over the table and showed him the menu. “They have a Very Berry Parfait for Two, and it looks like there are lots of strawberries in it. It is meant for two though…”

“We could always split it,” Gaku suggested casually, but inside he was pleading that she would agree. “I’ll have the strawberries and you can have everything else.”

Tsumugi considered for a moment and agreed with a cheerful nod after seeing the pleasant, somewhat playful grin on Gaku’s face. They ordered and received their parfait, which was larger than they had both anticipated. Nevertheless they dug in, Gaku getting most of the strawberries and Tsumugi eating the rest. 

“So, why did you choose to be a manager for the idol club?” Gaku asked between bites. “You could have used your position as the founder’s daughter to gain a following as an idol. You definitely have the looks for it.”

Tsumugi blushed and coughed as she tried to swallow. “I’m not a very good performer, and my father says I am too delicate for the rigors of being an idol. Besides, I prefer to help others discover their own stage that will grant them their dreams. Why did you make an idol group in the music club instead of starting your own club?”

“My father didn’t want the school’s reputation to shift from an arts prep school to another idol club school, so he didn’t approve our request to create a new club. And since our president Yuki just wanted to sit around writing music instead of performing like he used to, I decided to start up a group within the club. Me and Ryuu tried to do it on our own for a little while, but it wasn’t until Tenn joined that TRIGGER became strong. My old man couldn’t say no to us once our concerts and popularity brought in extra money and more students interested in enrolling.”

“Ah, I see,” Tsumugi smiled, “the three of you seemed rather close, like brothers.”

“Sure, we’re like family.” Gaku replied matter-of-factly and popped another strawberry in his mouth. “Mm, these are so good. Here, try one.” He scooped another strawberry out with some of the parfait and offered his spoon to her. 

“Oh I shouldn’t take from—“

“It’s fine, there’s plenty here,” he urged and brought the spoon closer to her face. 

“Alright, but then I want you to try the rest of the parfait, I think you’ll like it.”

“Deal.” He fed her the strawberry and tried to maintain his cool attitude as he watched her savor the flavor. “Alright now to hold up my end.” He took a spoonful of as much of the different toppings and parfait that would fit on the spoon and ate it. “I think I can see why you girls like these so much,” he said with his mouth still half full. 

Tsumugi giggled satisfactorily. “I knew you would think it was good. Oh, here, you have a little bit of honey on your cheek,” 

Tsumugi leaned over and wiped at Gaku’s face with her napkin. His eyes wandered down until they landed on Tsumugi’s blouse, which was revealing the slightest bit of cleavage as she bent forwards. His cheeks flushed and his ears felt hot. 

“Gaku-kun, are you okay? Your face is red! You don’t have a fever, do you?” She used the back of her hand to check his forehead. 

“No, no, I am fine!” The back of his neck began turning red too at the prolonged contact. “It’s just a bit warm in here. Thanks for worrying.”

“That’s a relief. You can’t be getting sick before you have the singing competition. After all, I am looking forward to seeing my first TRIGGER performance.”

“Wanna see us perform sooner than that? We are having a mini concert at a cafe in the next city over at 7:00 on Monday. I can get you a couple tickets for you and a friend to come. I can give them to you when you visit our school tomorrow.”

“Really? Oh, that would be nice! Maybe I’ll ask one of the other members of the idol club to join me,” she thought aloud to herself. 

“On second thought, I may only be able to get one ticket. Seats are pretty limited.”

“Ah, I understand. Though I would have to ask my father if I can go somewhere by myself that late.”

“I could arrange for a car to pick you up and drop you off at home. Just tell your dad you are getting a ride from a friend. That wouldn’t be a lie, unless of course,” his voice became a bit regretful, “you don’t consider me a friend yet.”

“O-O-Of course I do! You’ve been very kind,” Tsumugi insisted with a warm smile. 

“That makes me happy,” Gaku returned her smile with an even larger one. “You getting full?” he gestured to the nearly empty cup. 

“Ah, yes, I am quite finished, thank you.”

Not wanting to leave quite yet, Gaku asked, “Anything else you feel like having, maybe a cup of tea or coffee?”

“Well,” Tsumugi checked her watch then looked up, “I think a cup of tea might be nice.”

“Great!” he called over a waiter and ordered a tea for Tsumugi and a coffee for himself. “So, besides the idol club, what do you do with your spare time?”

“When I’m not studying for my classes, I usually study stage design and idol management. Or I’ll play with our pet rabbit.”

“Wow, you don’t do much else than work. You’re really dedicated to those guys aren’t you?”

“They’re my best friends, and I want to do everything I can to help them be successful, so we can one day debut as an official idol group. Nobody wants this to end once the third-years graduate. And that means I need to try my hardest so that I can keep up with being the best manager I can be.”

“I can understand that. With Ryuu and I graduating soon, we need to keep working towards making TRIGGER the top newly-debuted idol group.”

“Hopefully we all can meet our goals. But please look out for IDOLiSH7 once they have their debut,” Tsumugi smiled as she sipped her tea.

“Haha, I’m sure we will have no choice but to look out for them, considering how determined you are. Say, did you have anything else to do today?” Gaku asked with a boyish grin. 

“No, I-I just have some stage planning to do at home. Why do you ask?”

“It’s looking a bit cloudy out, and since you walked, I’d be afraid of you getting caught in the rain. So I was thinking, how about I give you a ride home on my motorcycle?”

“I-I don't know...I’ve never ridden a motorcycle before. A-and are you sure we should be seen together so conspicuously?”

“That’s fine, we’ll be going fast enough that nobody will recognize us. I’ve got a spare helmet too, and I’ve been riding enough that I am great at it. And if you get too scared, I promise I will pull over and walk you the rest of the way. What do you say?” he asked again, eyes shining.

“I guess I don’t live too far away, so it wouldn’t be too far out of your way...alright, I’ll accept your offer,” she nervously yet excitedly accepted.

“Great!” he downed the last gulp of his coffee in victory and got up. After paying the bill and walking outside with her, he offered Tsumugi the spare helmet, which had the pattern of the outside of a watermelon; the lining was even pink with small black ovals sporadically placed. 

“Ah, ignore the pattern. That was a joke birthday gift from Tenn.”

“How sweet!” She giggled as she put the helmet on. “He must really appreciate you if he got you a playful gift.”

“Eh, it would have been nice if he gave me a genuine gift as well as the joke. But anyways,” he swung his leg over and sat on his motorcycle, “just sit behind me and hold on as tightly as you need to my waist. All you have to worry about is shouting me directions to your house.”

Tsumugi sat sideways behind him on top of her bookbag and wrapped her arms around him. She noticed how warm his back was, as well as how firm yet slightly soft his stomach was. Feeling her breath on his back, Gaku’s face and ears became red once again. He started driving, being sure to obey the speed limit. Though he couldn’t resist sometimes stopping a bit more suddenly than usual, since every time he did, it would make Tsumugi cling tighter. 

Soon they came to the street where Tsumugi lived. “You can just drop me off here, Gaku-kun. My father might be home, and I don’t know how he would feel if he knew I let a   
boy bring me home on a motorcycle. I had a very lovely time though, thank you!”

“It was my pleasure,” he said with a bow of his head. “I’ll see you tomorrow for the tour? If you’d like, I could give you an exclusive private tour while Ryuu and Tenn show the others around.”

“T-t-that might be a bit improper—”

“I know, I know, it was mostly a joke,” Gaku chuckled as he watched her get flustered yet again. He loved her frantic expression almost as much as that pure-hearted smile she often wore. “Have a good rest of your day.”

“Thank you, you too, and drive safe!” She waved goodbye as he turned his motorcycle around and rode off. She hurried down the street towards the prettiest house in the neighborhood. Her feet were barely touching the floor as she waltzed into the house. She called out a soft “I’m home!” before kicking off her heels and running up to her room. As soon as she had the door shut, she dove into her bed and squealed into her pillow. A large, rotund, fuzzy pink rabbit squeaked a chastising greeting from the other side of the bed.

“Oh, Kinako!” Tsumugi cooed, scooping the rabbit into her arms and nuzzling her face into it’s lush fur. “I just had the best afternoon! Yao—” a giggle interrupted her, “Gaku-kun was nothing like I had feared he would be. He does still intimidate me a little, but he was so kind and sweet today. I don’t think he was behaving that way just to get me to like him either. He seems genuine. Oh and I get to see him again tomorrow! How am I going to pretend I haven’t seen him since yesterday around the boys?” she sunk her face back into Kinako, who softly went “Mew mew…”


	5. Broken Resolve

Tsumugi had a heartfelt lecture with her reflection in the mirror the next morning, reminding herself that she was IDOLiSH7’s manager and that they depended on her to get everything prepared so that they could do their best to win the sing-off. Now was not the time to allow herself to slip into a romance with someone from a rival group. She decided that she would turn down the concert ticket if Gaku offered it to her like he said he would. She could just look up TRIGGER online and get just as good of a view from that. With that resolve, she made her way to school.

“Good afternoon, Takanashi-chan!” Oogami Banri, the music teacher and adviser for the idol club, called out as Tsumugi walked up to the idol club’s bus. “The boys are already in the van.”

“We saved the front seat for you, Manager!” Riku announced from one of the open passenger windows.

“Nanase-san, please do not stick your face out the window, there are many flowers falling about, it might aggravate your allergies,” Iori could be heard lecturing as Tsumugi thanked Banri for opening the car door for her. 

They arrived at Yaotome High School in a timely manner since the schools were only a fifteen minute drive apart. They were received by the entirety of the music club, with TRIGGER and Yuki in front. Tenn was in the middle, arms crossed and a nonchalant expression. Ryuunosuke was to his left, a genuinely welcoming smile dancing across his tanned face. Gaku was on Tenn’s right with a smirk that grew wider at the sight of Tsumugi walking on the outskirts of the group. 

“Welcome to Yaotome High,” Yuki said smoothly as he and TRIGGER guided their visitors towards the main school building. It was quite an impressive structure, though slightly smaller than the Takanashi High building. “That main building is just for your standard high school classes,” Yuki explained as they turned left away from the building. “To the right of and behind that we have our gymnasium, tennis court, and Olympic-sized indoor pool.” He guided them down the path to another impressively-sized building. “And this, the jewel of the school, is our concert hall.” 

“Even though it was built for the school’s orchestra, we are allowed to use it for our concerts,” Ryuunosuke explained. 

“But my old m—the principal makes us pay a fee just like anyone else who wants to rent the hall,” Gaku added with a tinge of spite. 

“I suppose that makes sense, since your group is not officially recognized by the school,” Iori postulated. 

“Yeah I had a question about that,” Yamato stepped around to the other side of Tsumugi, where Gaku had been slowly lagging behind to try to walk. “If TRIGGER isn’t recognized by the school, why are you allowed to challenge us on behalf of Yaotome High?”

Before Gaku could even give Yamato a dirty look for cutting him off, Tenn answered, “The student body had the opportunity to vote on who they wanted to represent the school in a competition against the other schools: the orchestra, the dance club, or the swim team. However, somebody sneaked TRIGGER’s name on the ballots before they were printed and handed out. An incredibly large number of students voted for us.”

“So the old man had no choice but to acknowledge the results to prevent a student-led upheaval,” Gaku puffed his chest out slightly as he interrupted Tenn. 

“Wow,” Sougo couldn’t help but sound impressed. “I-I have heard a few of your songs through fellow members of my Music Appreciation club. They were very well done.”

“Glad you think so!” Ryuunosuke beamed. 

“Anyways,” Yuki yawned, “I think I will let TRIGGER finish showing you all around. I have other club activities to get to. Farewell for now.” With a casual smile and a lazy wave, he walked back towards the main building. 

“He’s a pretty hands-off president, isn’t he?” Mitsuki whispered to Nagi.

“ _YES_ , it reminds me of our own dear president,” he replied, glancing over at Yamato who was slowly losing interest in the tour. 

“Haven’t been on a stage with that many seats,” Tamaki loudly whispered to Sougo as they stood on the expansive stage and looked out at the rows and rows of seating. 

“I know...it’s a bit intimidating.”

“You will be expected to bring whatever equipment you need here,” Tenn explained. “Though if there is anything we are not using, like microphones or technical equipment, you are free to request them. We take even our charity events very seriously, so please do the same.”

“IDOLiSH7 takes every performance seriously,” Tsumugi couldn’t help but sound defensive. “The feelings of our fans is priority. We always want to see them smiling and enjoying themselves.”

“ _She’s adorable even when she gets mad,”_ Gaku’s internal monologue said as he watched her cheeks slightly puff out. 

“Well, at least that is one way are similar,” Tenn said with a coy smile. “Also, we have planned what we will need from you for our performance.” He handed Tsumugi a printed checklist of various requests. 

“I see…” Tsumugi took a quick glance down the list. “We will see what we can do.”

“Good, please do the same for us so that we can plan accordingly. This is a list of what equipment we have available.” He pointed out the paper under the checklist he had given her. 

“So organized,” she breathed. “Th-thank you, I will work on getting back to you as soon as I can.”

Tenn acknowledged her response with an approving nod and continued on to show them the green room IDOLiSH7 would be allowed to use to get ready for the concert. “Do any of you have any questions before I end the tour?”

Most everyone shook their head no, but Tsumugi chirped, “Ah, um, if I may ask, where is your ladies’ restroom? I only saw the men’s over there.”

“I’ll show you where it is,” Gaku almost too quickly offered before Tenn could give straightforward directions. 

“Ah—thank you, Ga—Yaotome-kun,” she said nervously. “I’ll be right back,” she said to her classmates before hurrying after Gaku. 

After leaving the green room and making a couple simple turns, they arrived at the women’s bathroom. “I’m glad I got a chance to talk to you alone,” Gaku said, turning to face her. “I managed to get Kaoru-chan to give me a ticket for our concert like I promised.” He pulled an envelope out from his blazer’s inner pocket. It had Tsumugi’s name scrolled on the front with pristine handwriting. 

A pang of regret hit her as she remembered her resolution to refuse the ticket. She couldn’t mask it well enough, and Gaku picked up on her hesitance. 

“Are you having second thoughts?” his previously energetic and eager expression fell into an almost puppy-like look of defeat. 

“It’s just...” she began, but trailed off as she tried to think of the best way to word it. “I really would love to go. But I am IDOLiSH7’s manager, and I feel like I would be betraying them if I went. And this sneaking around them doesn’t feel right.”

A wave of frustration hit Gaku, causing him to move closer to her, nearly backing her against the wall. “It’s not like you’re paying to attend the concert. I’m giving this to you as a present. Friends do this all the time. And I thought you said we were friends.”

“Y-yes, we are. But I don’t like lying to my other friends.” She couldn’t help but begin to blush as Gaku leaned down to eye level with her. 

“Then please, just come to the concert. Tell your friends where you are going if you want. I—like you, Tsumugi-chan. Don’t stop being friends with me. Please.” He gently picked up her hand, which had been pressed against the side of her face, and placed the envelope in her palm. He maintained a cool expression, backed up, and walked around the corner, calling back, “I’ll see you on Monday night.”

Tsumugi was almost in a daze as she stared at the envelope. Her entire face felt hot, and her chest was heaving. The members of the idol club had always made playful or flirty comments to her; it was almost expected since she was the only girl amid a group of teenage boys. But this was the first time a boy had told her that he _liked_ her. She finally snapped out of her daze, put the envelope in her purse, and hurried into the bathroom. She splashed water in her face and tried to look like nothing had happened. 

Meanwhile around the corner was Gaku, crouched down and slumped against the wall with his face as red as a strawberry in sunshine. He wasn’t planning on being quite so straightforward, but the thought of her turning him down was too much for him to bear. He took a moment more to regulate his breathing before peeking around the corner. Seeing nobody there, he assumed Tsumugi had gone into the bathroom. He then texted Tenn that he wouldn’t be rejoining them. After making an encounter and exit like that with her, he had no clue how he would be able to face her again that day. 

Gaku began walking down the hall to head over to the music club’s meeting room when he bumped into Ryuunosuke. 

“Ah, there you are, Gaku! Tenn told us you weren’t coming back—and your face is flushed, were you running? And where is Takanashi-chan?”

Gaku ran a hand over his hair and groaned. Of all people to run into, it had to be Ryuu, the boy with the brotherly smile that could make anyone spill their troubles. “Ryuu, I need you to promise me, on the heads of your little brothers, that you don’t utter a single word of this to that smug twerp.”

“I-I’ll try my best, but first can you let go of my shirt?” 

Gaku released his grip and leaned against the wall. He proceeded to expose all of the events that happened between him and Tsumugi. Ryuunosuke kept a pensive look and waited for his friend to finish laying his heart bare. 

“I didn’t say I liked her just to get her to still go. It just kind of...came out of my mouth before I knew what I was saying.”

“You do have a habit of speaking candidly when you get upset,” Ryuu said sympathetically. 

“I just hope it wasn’t too much for her. Last thing I want is to drive her farther away. That’s why I sent that text to Tenn. Thought it’d be better if I just stayed away.”

“It was a good idea to give her space. You probably gave her a bit of a shock. But maybe you should text her and try to smooth things over with her?”

“But what would I say?” Gaku held his hands up exasperatedly. 

“I’m just as clueless as you,” Ryuunosuke said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Tenn would probably know…”

“I am _not_ asking that imp for advice,” Gaku said grumpily. 

“Okay, okay. But just think about what you want to say to her, and where you want this relationship to go. And remember what you said about this competition.”

Gaku sobered up at Ryuu’s reminder. “That this is our chance for my old man to finally acknowledge TRIGGER and use the money to fund our official debut…our fans have been hoping for it almost as much as we have.” He stood up straight and clapped Ryuunosuke on the back. “Thanks for listening.”

“I’m not an older brother for nothing,” Ryuunosuke answered with a heartfelt smile. “I should get back to the group now before Tenn runs out of things to show everyone. See you later for the tour with ZOOL!” 

Ryuunosuke returned to the group while Gaku hid out in another part of the concert hall. Tsumugi had met up with everyone else around the time Ryuunosuke had run into Gaku. She seemed fine, albeit a little more skittish than before. Tenn finished the tour and returned the Takanashi students to their bus, just as a black limousine with Tsukumo Prep’s logo drove up. 

“Good luck with ZOOL,” Yamato warned with a knowing grin as he got into the van. 

Ryuunosuke looked nervously at Tenn as he held the van door open for Tsumugi. “What did Nikaido-kun mean by that?”

“A-ah…” Tsumugi winced. “They were a bit...difficult to handle for us. But perhaps they were just having a bad day. A-anyways, thank you for taking the time to show us around. We look forward to competing against you.” She bowed one more time before getting into the van. As the van began to drive away, she looked back at Gaku through the side view mirror and sighed.


	6. An Unprofessional Encounter

Once Tsumugi was dropped off at home, she buried herself in her bed yet again and cuddled Kinako close. “I failed, Kinako. I couldn’t refuse the ticket.” She sat up and pulled the envelope on the corner of the bed into her lap. She gently traced the strokes of her name on the front of it. “Gaku-san told me he likes me,” she said, turning pink-cheeked immediately. “I couldn’t say anything at all. He got so close to me that I could smell his cologne. I was a little scared since he was getting upset, but his eyes were so earnest. And he told me I could tell the boys if I wanted, which made me really happy. I hate keeping things from them. But what would Dad say about this?” She fell back into her pillows woefully. 

At that moment her cell phone alerted her that she received a text. She squeaked out an “It’s him!” when she saw who sent it. 

“Hi Tsumugi-chan! (^^)/ I hope you met up with your classmates safely after I left. Sorry I went so quickly. I did mean what I said. Hope to see you at the concert tomorrow!”

Tsumugi kicked her feet in a fit of confusion and love sickness. She thought of a response for over ten minutes, erasing and rewording multiple times. She settled on: “Thank you for having us today! (*^^*) Yes, I found them just fine. We have to visit Tsukumo High after school tomorrow, but I will try to make it. (｀_´)ゞ”

Gaku wanted to do cartwheels across his room when he saw Tsumugi’s response, but he refrained since his father was home. He replied with: “٩( 'ω' )و I look forward to having you! ( Also, ZOOL were a buncha assholes. They had no real energy except for that Inumaru guy, but even he was kind of weird. And none of them could say a single positive thing about our school.”

“Ahh...I see they were no different then,” Tsumugi replied with a sad King Pudding sticker to accompany the message.

The two swapped full experiences with ZOOL, and then the conversation veered more into other aspects of school and home life. They texted back and forth for well over an hour, until Tsumugi got called down for dinner. 

The next day, after school was finished, TRIGGER and Kaoru made their way to Tsukumo High. They arrived and were surprised by how massive and elaborate the school grounds appeared. Front and center of the grounds, there was a large fountain with a bust of the founder in front of it. There was sophisticated landscaping of topiaries and flowers all around. The main school building was larger than Takanashi High’s and Yaotome High’s. There were dormitories behind the building on either side, making it look even more imposing.

“No wonder they complained how small everything looked at our school,” Ryuunosuke muttered. 

“No kiddin’,” Gaku nodded. “And where are they? I don’t see anyone out here.”

Kaoru clicked her tongue in distaste and pulled out her cell phone. “I am going to call their manager and give them an earful! Really, leaving us here without a greeting is so disrespectful!” When someone answered her call, she began almost yelling, “Yes, hello?! This is Anesagi Kaoru, TRIGGER’s manager. We have been outside your school waiting for someone to meet us and give us the tour for ten minutes! Is anyone coming or did you sign us up for the self-guided package!?” She paused as the person on the other end replied. “Yes, please, else we will start finding our way ourselves.” She aggressively tapped the end button on her smartphone. “Uuuu, I wish I still had a flip phone just to slam it shut.”

“What did he say, Kaoru-chan?” Tenn asked. 

“He is sending ZOOL to meet us. They should be here  _ ‘soon’ _ ,” she did air quotes sarcastically on the last word. “Let’s see how long it takes.” 

After another ten minutes, Touma came running up. “Sorry about the wait, guys,” he puffed. “We were finishing up practice.”

“And when did ZOOL become a one-man show?” Tenn asked with a judgmental gaze. 

“Uhh, they got busy and didn’t feel like showing up for you,” Touma said a bit sheepishly. “We just gotta show you the stage anyways, right? You guys are bringing your own equipment and stuff.”

“But I thought the agreement was that the schools would share their resources with each other,” Ryuunosuke spoke up. 

“Oh yeah, our manager changed his mind on that and decided to not follow that anymore.”

“Tch, yet you were plenty eager to request to use ours and Takanashi High’s stuff,” Gaku crossed his arms. 

“I mean, you guys offered, so I don’t see what the issue is,” Touma shrugged it off and turned around. “I’ll show you guys the stage. We have an outdoor stage too, but it’s too small for ZOOL’s killer performance we have planned, so we’re using our auditorium building.”

“You have two stages?” Tenn asked, slightly surprised. 

“Yep, you never know if we need to run two performances on the same day. The auditorium’s just on the back side of the main building, and the other one is over to the left.”

Touma took them into the auditorium and showed them the stage, not saying much about it and mostly letting them explore the auditorium on their own. TRIGGER was impressed by the size of the stage, but they left the school with a bad taste in their mouth regarding ZOOL’s behavior. 

“Let’s just forget about those hacks and go put on an awesome concert for your fans!” Kaoru tried to cheer them up once they got back in the car. 

“I’d hate to know how they treat IDOLiSH7, considering it sounds like they got even worse treatment than us when ZOOL visited,” Ryuu still couldn’t shake his down mood. But then he saw Gaku staring off into the distance and remembered that he probably had bigger concerns than ZOOL at that moment. “Say, Gaku, didn’t you say you were really looking forward to putting on this concert?”

Gaku snapped out of it and looked up, “Yeah, I did. It’ll be good opportunity to prepare for the competition, especially since we are performing ‘DIAMOND FUSION’. I wanna try out those choreography changes we’ve been practicing.”

Ryuu had successfully rerouted the conversation to something different, and everyone managed to feel better. They immediately gathered what they needed from school and headed to the venue to prepare for their mini concert. 


	7. Backstage Pass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To create an atmosphere while reading this chapter, I suggest listening to some TRIGGER songs. ^o^

“Oh Kinako, what should I wear!” Tsumugi fretted as she stared hopelessly at the many outfits spread across her bed and desk.

She had endured the miserable tour at Tsukumo High from Torao, who incessantly tried to hit on her the entire time they were there. Riku, Yamato, and Nagi had to form another line of defense around her to prevent him from getting too close. Now she was finally back home. She had taken a shower to wash herself of the memories of that afternoon and was now in her robe and towel trying to decide between a pair of white pants and a cute patterned shirt or a long patterned skirt and flowy pink blouse. 

Her father had approved of her going out, much to Tsumugi’s surprise. He had said she deserved to enjoy some music for herself rather than always running around worrying about others, as long as she was not out too late. Granted, his answer might have changed, had she not left out the fact that the boy who gave her the ticket was someone she very much liked, and that the "friend" she was catching a ride with was Gaku's chauffeur. He had also taken no issue with it being TRIGGER she was going to see, since he could see the talent the group of boys possessed. Besides, it was supposed to be a friendly competition for charity, no need to have animosity towards a fellow competitor. 

Tsumugi held the two outfits up to herself once again. Her phone on the bed buzzed—a text from Gaku. “Your ride will be there in a half hour. :D”

“Eek, that isn’t much time left!” She quickly dressed in the skirt outfit and put on her makeup in record time. She was double-checking everything in her purse when the doorbell rang. “I’ll be leaving now, Dad!”

“Have fun, Tsumugi-chan!” he called from his office. “Call and let me know if you won’t be back by curfew at 11:30!”

“Of course!” She slipped on her shoes as she opened the door. 

“Good evening, are you Takanashi Tsumugi?” The chauffeur of a shiny black car inquired with a polite bow. When she nodded yes, he quickly went to the front passenger door and opened it. “Please, have a seat.”

“Th-thank you so much!” Tsumugi got in the car, and they were on their way to the venue. 

The chauffeur dropped her off at the back of the cafe. “Umm, shouldn’t I go to the front to wait in that long line?”

He shook his head, “No, ma’am. Yaotome-san told me to drop you off here since your ticket includes a backstage pass. Just go through that door on the right.”

“I-I see! Thank you very much!”

“Just tell Yaotome-san when you are ready to leave and I will take you home.”

Tsumugi got out and bowed to show her appreciation once more. She timidly tried the door and went in. Down a short hallway, a security guard asked for her ticket. She opened the envelope, and sure enough, there was a backstage pass. She was guided to the designated area beside the stage. Only two chairs were set up beyond the blocked off area closest to the stage, one marked “MANAGER” on the other side of the stage and the one on her side marked “GUEST”. A light stick was waiting on the seat with a short hand-written guide on what colors should be used for whom or for what song. She was about to sit down when Gaku came running over. 

“You made it!” He said with a mixture of excitement and relief. He was dressed up in an elaborate costume with a long black overcoat that had panels of gem-work on the chest. His hair looked even fluffier than normal, yet his bangs were more styled off of his face. “I just ran out to say hi before they touch my face up. You look great,” he took another long gaze at her outfit, trying to take in every detail. 

Tsumugi blushed and looked down at the floor. “Y-You look great too. That costume is dazzling.”

“Not as dazzling as your smile.”

Cue Tsumugi’s face and ears turning an even brighter shade of pink. 

“I’ll have more time to talk with you after the concert, so please enjoy,” he took a short bow before spinning around and rushing off. 

Tsumugi collapsed into the chair and checked her face in her compact to see if she was still red. She didn’t have to wait terribly long before the rest of the audience filed in, and someone announced that the concert would begin soon. 

Tsumugi was not mentally prepared for what she experienced. The already handsome trio looked stunning in their costumes and under the stage lights. Their chemistry was even better, their movements all in synch and their voices meshing masterfully. Ryuunosuke seemed completely different: rather than his kind, brotherly temperament, he was dangerously flirtatious and dealt out a lot of fanservice. Tenn shone as center, his radiance was almost blinding. Gaku seemed even more suave and cool too. He kept shooting flirty grins and glances Tsumugi’s way, each time causing her to blush and smile broadly. The songs were all irresistibly catchy, and she found herself waving the light stick with more fervor than she had anticipated. 

After performing an encore and saying thank you and goodbye to the audience, TRIGGER left the stage. Gaku waved at Tsumugi before exiting the stage from Kaoru’s side. The boys talked excitedly with their manager for a little while and then went to their green room. 

Tsumugi had begun gathering her things, assuming she wouldn’t get to see Gaku since he looked busy with his group-mates. However, Kaoru came striding over. “Tenn told me to come get you,” she said in a slightly snobbish tone. 

“Eh? Excuse me, d-did you say K-Kujou-kun wanted to see me?”

“Well you have a backstage pass, don’t you?! That includes a meet and greet with TRIGGER. Unless you didn’t want to—”

“No, I do, I do, thank you!”

“Then follow me.” She led Tsumugi back to the small back room the cafe allowed performers to use as the green room. They had a small couch and coffee table, a large mirror on the opposite wall, and two tall stools to be used to do hair and makeup. Tenn was sitting on one of the stools while Ryuu and Gaku were sitting on either end of the couch, leaving an open seat between them. Kaoru knocked quickly before waltzing in. “Here she is!” she declared, leaving as soon as Tsumugi walked in. 

“Hello, I hope you enjoyed the—oh, Manager-chan,” Tenn acted slightly surprised. “Gaku, you didn’t tell me the winner of the backstage pass lottery was IDOLiSH7’S manager. What a coincidence,” his last words were dripping with sarcasm. “In any case,” he said and hopped off the stool, “I hope you enjoyed the concert.”

“H-hi there,” Tsumugi bashfully bowed. “Thank you for having me. It was truly a delightful time! I-I very much so enjoyed myself.”

“That’s always great to hear!” Ryuunosuke said happily. “Feel free to have a seat,” he patted the seat between him and Gaku. 

“Ah, I shouldn’t take up so much of your time.”

“No, please,” Gaku insisted. “You are our guest, make yourself comfortable.”

“A-A-Alright…” Tsumugi timidly accepted their offer and sat down between them. They were still in their costumes, but they had the outer coats off, which meant they were just in their undershirts. She turned a light shade of pink and concentrated all of her effort into not staring and not stammering excessively. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Gaku said in a relaxed tone, putting his arm along the back of the couch, just inches away from being around her shoulders. “Glad to hear you had a good time. How did you like our music?”

“Oh it was amazing!” she inadvertently looked Gaku in the eyes in her excitement and blushed as she continued, “They were all so catchy, I was dancing along even though it was my first time hearing them!”

“Haha, if that’s the case, you should buy our album when it comes out,” Ryuunosuke suggested. 

“Tell me, Manager-chan,” Tenn’s voice spoke up. “What made you come to one of our concerts?” Now, Tenn was not dumb, of course he had already figured out something was going on between her and Gaku. But he just couldn’t resist the opportunity to watch them squirm and see how they would answer. 

“Oh, well, um,” she began slowly, glancing at Gaku. He was giving Tenn a death glare. She decided it was best to just tell the truth, since Tenn’s unwavering gaze was scrutinizing her for any sign of weakness. “I mentioned to Gaku-kun I had never heard any of TRIGGER’s music before. He gave me a ticket, and since I was curious, I came.”

“Hmm, I suppose that is believable.” Tenn relaxed and smirked. “After all, it’s not like  _ Gaku-kun _ isn’t a lumbering fool who couldn’t master the art of subtlety enough to not make it obvious he has gawked at you every time you are around.”

“Why you little pipsqueak!” Gaku almost shot up off the couch, but he settled down when he noticed Tsumugi cringe back a little. 

“Even Ryuu noticed, he was just too afraid to say anything right away,” Tenn said almost tauntingly. “You cannot hide anything from your group-mates.”

“I promise I didn’t say anything to him, Gaku,” Ryuu earnestly said, hands up in weak defense. 

“I-I don’t mean to cause trouble,” Tsumugi said meekly. “I-I-I can just leave, I don’t want you to fight.”

Gaku unclenched his fists and softened his expression as he turned from Tenn and looked at her. “You’re fine, Tsumugi—”

“Oho,” Tenn held his hand to his chin in fascination. “Not even calling her by her surname either already?”

“Why you—”

“Guys, c’mon…” Ryuunosuke was getting exasperated. 

“Look, she and I have just been spending a little bit of time together outside of school business.”

“Are you dating?” Tenn asked bluntly, making everyone on the couch squirm. 

“N-n-n-not exactly,” Tsumugi shakily replied. 

“Have you gone on an outing together?” Tenn asked challengingly. 

Gaku and Tsumugi knew they were trapped, so they just nodded. 

“Have you messaged each other on Rabbit Chat for at least two hours straight?”

Another nod from both of them. 

“And now Gaku has brought you to one of our concerts, as well as taking it into his own hands to manipulate who won the backstage pass, something he has  _ never done _ …” Tenn paused for dramatic effect. “You are dating.”

Ryuu was getting secondhand embarrassment just watching as Tsumugi and Gaku turned red all over. 

“Do ya always have to be so straightforward?” Gaku mumbled. 

“I’m just getting all the facts straight for you, so that you stop walking around with your head in the clouds and start concentrating on your responsibilities once again.” Tenn’s taunting demeanor had shifted to one with more reproach and sternness. “You might have forgotten, but we are in competition with her idol club—“

“That shouldn’t matter, it’s just for a charity thing!” Gaku tried to reason. 

“If you let me finish, I was going to say you two can do what you want together, as long as it does not hinder either of our groups. IDOLiSH7 is a worthy opponent, but there is ZOOL too, who I don’t think any of us want to see win. So we need to be at better than our best, which means I expect you to concentrate on what is important.”

Gaku and Tsumugi hung their heads like two children being lectured by their father. They glanced quickly at one another then nodded. 

“Now, I think Gaku had one more thing for you,” Tenn smirked once again. 

“Oh yeah, I did.” Gaku got up and grabbed a small thin package out of his school bag in the corner of the room. “Here you go. It’s a CD of our songs.”

“Th-thank you so much!” Tsumugi accepted the gift with a bow and smile. “I-I should probably be getting home, I wouldn’t want my father to worry. It was a wonderful concert, thank you for your hard work.”

“Anything for our fans,” Ryuu said with a smile. 

“We will be even more dazzling on stage for the sing-off,” Tenn guaranteed. 

“I’ll walk you out,” Gaku said as he sent a text to the chauffeur. 

Tsumugi stood up, Gaku doing likewise. They walked out of the room together and both breathed a sigh of relief once the door was shut. 

“Kujou-kun is much different in person than he is on stage,” Tsumugi broke the silence. 

“You noticed that too?” Gaku said with an exasperated chuckle. “I’m sorry about all that in there. I was gonna meet you by myself, but Tenn insisted and got to Kaoru-chan before I could stop him. Now can you see why I was trying to keep it from him?”

“I can, but I also feel a bit more relieved telling the truth. But, Gaku-kun, a-a-about what he said…about us...”

“About us,” Gaku’s voice lowered, “dating?”

Her face flushed once more and all she could do was nod. 

“Tenn was just forcing a reaction out of us—”

“I-I wouldn’t mind if that’s wh-what we did,” she almost whispered. 

Now it was his turn to blush. “R-really? You want to go out?”

“I-I would like that...but, I need to tell my friends the truth.”

“Sure, I understand. It's only fair since my friends know. What about your dad?” 

She stiffened. “M-m-maybe I can wait to tell him, at least until after the festival is over.”

The two began walking outside. They were quiet for the rest of the time until the car arrived. He opened the front passenger door and helped her in. 

“I hope you had a good time,” Gaku smiled. 

“I really did, thank you for everything! I’ll talk to you later.”

“Alright, have a good night. Let me know you got home okay.” He shut the door and waved as the car drove away. 

After Tsumugi got home and said a quick hello to her father, she went up to her room and pulled out her phone. First, she sent a Rabbit Chat to Gaku, thanking him again and letting him know she got home safely. Then she sent a message in the IDOLiSH7 group chat that she had something important to discuss at their next meeting tomorrow. After that, she looked at the CD and flipped through the booklet. It wasn’t an official CD, but more like a prototype design. There were song lyrics and dynamic photos taken during one of the boys’ mini concerts. She was amazed yet again at how different the three boys looked when they were together on stage. They all looked so handsome and alluring, like they were just beckoning you to embrace them, though she was particularly enthralled with Gaku. 

Next thing Tsumugi knew, it was morning. She had fallen asleep listening to the CD and looking at the booklet. She hurriedly got herself ready for school and headed down to make breakfast. Her father had already left for his meetings, so it was just her. She bicycled her way to school, humming TRIGGER songs the whole way. 


	8. Soba Noodles and a Confession

When Tsumugi arrived at the school auditorium, the seven boys were already there, chatting about their day or theorizing what Tsumugi wanted to talk about. 

“Hi, Tsumugi-chan!” Riku greeted with a wave. 

The others greeted her similarly, and she replied, “Hello, everyone, I’m glad you’re all here!” 

“What didja need to discuss?” Tamaki said after taking a big spoonful of his beloved King Pudding. 

“Tamaki-kun, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Sougo admonished and handed him a napkin. 

“Ah, that…” Tsumugi glanced down, praying her face was not reddening. 

“Is it something about the sing-off?” Mitsuki inquired. 

“I hope it isn’t about the flyers,” Iori started, “I gave the design club explicit instructions on their design, and they said they could manage it.”

“No, it isn’t anything about that,” Tsumugi shook her head. “We can talk about it after practice. I-It’s not that important.” 

In truth Tsumugi just wasn’t ready to tell them and wanted to put it off as long as possible. She feared their good moods would be ruined and they would lose a precious day of practice. Practice began, the boys worked on singing and then on the choreography for their performance. 

“I’m starvin’!” Tamaki declared, thumping down into one of the auditorium seats. 

“Me too!” Yamato joined him. “Hey, I just remembered! I’ve got that coupon for Yamamura’s! Let’s order in some food!”

“That’s a great idea!” Mitsuki approved. I’m too exhausted to even head to the cooking club room and whip up something fast for us.”

“We have enough money in the budget to afford it,” Sougo added, getting excited at the idea of food. 

“Alright, I’ll order the usual!” Tsumugi pulled out her phone and called the restaurant. “I’ll go wait for the delivery person out front!” She took the coupon from Yamato and the money for the bill from Sougo and headed out. 

Tsumugi wasn’t waiting for long, as a person on a delivery motorcycle drove up. “Ah, it’s someone different!” she commented to herself as she watched a teenager get off the motorcycle. He removed his watermelon-patterned helmet and grabbed a large insulated bag that had been strapped to the back. 

“Thank you for your patronage! Ah—” The delivery boy stopped in his tracks. His silvery hair was styled but incredibly tousled from being trapped in a helmet. 

“Thank—oh! I-Is that you, Gaku-kun?” She took a step closer. 

“Would you believe me if I said I was just a humble soba shop employee?” he playfully grinned. 

She took a long look at him, almost doubting herself. “No, since I remember you mentioned you hang out at your grandfather's soba restaurant. I didn’t realize it was Yamamura’s though.”

“Oh, right, I did say that. Well, just don’t let anyone else know. It’s my one thing I get to feel normal doing. As far as our customers know, I am just the shop’s humble employee.”

“Whatever you say,” Tsumugi said with a smile. “I can take that for you now.”

“Are you kidding, this is food for eight people. My mother would skin me alive if she found out I let a customer carry something this heavy by herself. That isn’t even touching on the fact that you’re my girlfriend now. Just show me the way.”

After getting over the fact that she was just referred to as his girlfriend, Tsumugi regained her footing and said inquisitively, “Don’t you remember the way from our tour?”

“I’m just a simple sobaman, I don’t know the way,” he replied with a wink. 

She giggled and began walking with him. 

“Did you tell them yet?”

“I haven’t had the courage to yet.”

“Ah…”

“I was planning to once we had our food. They’re always easier to talk to when they are eating.”

“Want me to stick around?” 

“I wouldn’t want to keep you from work.”

“Eh, my pops would let me get away with it just this once.”

They arrived at the auditorium and she held the door open for him. 

“There’s the food!” Mitsuki cheered. This announcement caused the rest of the boys to cheer and scramble from their various locations to the makeshift table they had set up on the stage. 

“You can just set it on the front of the stage,” Tsumugi instructed. “Thank you so much!” She began handing him the money after he put the food down. 

He gently pushed her hand away and shook his head. “It’s on the house today. Enjoy the food! Eat it before it gets cold! Please continue your patronage with Yamamura’s.” He politely bowed before walking towards the door. 

“Th-thank you very much!” she called after him. 

“Hey, didn’t he look kinda familiar?” Mitsuki asked, scratching his head. 

“Nah, he was just a soba guy,” Yamato replied as he put up the food onto the table. “Let’s eat!”

Everyone sorted out whose food was whose, and a resounding “Thank you for the meal!” echoed through the auditorium as everyone dug into their food.

Once everyone’s stomachs were satisfied, Tsumugi cleared her throat and steeled her courage. “U-um, guys, a-about what I wanted to discuss.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot you wanted to say something!” Riku said as he set down his empty bowl. 

“Right...umm,” she fidgeted in her seat, balling up her hands in the fabric of her skirt. Her mind rushed with different ways of wording it, but the next thing she heard was her own voice exclaiming, “Yaotome Gaku-kun and I are starting to date!” She winced at her bluntness and slowly looked up to read her friends’ reactions. 

Yamato dropped his chopsticks, and Riku was blinking, his face frozen in a stunned smile. Iori’s eyes widened, his brain obviously working a mile per minute. Sougo was surprised as well, and Tamaki looked up from his spoon from his third pudding cup. Mitsuki was the first to overcome his shock and said, “Dang, Yaotome got farther than any of us.”

“Takanashi-san,” Iori started with a perplexed expression. “What does this mean for the sing-off? Have you been compromised? He didn’t seduce you just to weaken us, did he?”

“Iori!” Riku finally snapped out of his frozen state. “Gaku-kun seemed like a good guy. Would he really be that dishonest?” He began to doubt and looked worried. 

“He told me it was nothing like that,” Tsumugi quickly assured. “W-we have talked a lot and I think he’s honest and very kind. A-and while I did go to TRIGGER’s concert yesterday, it only made me more excited to help us win the sing-off! I promise that I am putting my all into this, just like all of you are! IDOLiSH7 comes first, and Ga—Yaotome-kun knows that. A-and one more thing, please don’t share this with anyone else. We don’t want TRIGGER or IDOLiSH7 getting any bad press or rumors spread.”

Everyone slowly nodded in agreement. 

“I dunno why you all are so surprised,” Tamaki blurted as he opened his fourth pudding. “Gakkun wouldn’t stop starin’ at Tsu-chan all the time.”

“I suppose you notice more than we think, Tamaki-kun,” Sougo smiled sympathically. 

“I’m gonna call this meeting adjourned,” Yamato announced, gathering his trash. “I’ve gotta go call a Going Home club meeting. See you all tomorrow.”

“Y-Yamato-kun…”Tsumugi held her hand out as he grabbed his bookbag and left, brushing past her. 

“ _ Oh _ ,” Nagi put a hand on her shoulder. “Let him go, Manager-chan. He will come back with smiles again tomorrow. I am sad too, since I did not win your heart first. But I want to know, _are you happy_?”

Tsumugi smiled and nodded, “Yes, very happy.”

“That is what we all want, so then I will be happy too.” He returned a smile and picked up his bookbag. “Now, I must hurry home before I miss the Magical Kokona rerun marathon!  _ Goodbye _ !”

“C’mon, Sou-chan, I wanna call a Pudding Meeting now.” Tamaki tugged at Sougo’s sweater sleeve. 

“But you just ate four puddings!” he tried to protest, even though there was no reasoning with him when he was like this. “Fine, let’s go. See you all tomorrow.” 

Everyone else went their separate ways, leaving Tsumugi in the auditorium. When the coast was clear a few minutes after, Gaku slipped in through the side door. He effortlessly went up the side stage steps two at a time and stood at Tsumugi’s side. “How did it go?”

“They took it better than I thought... I just hope Yamato-kun will be alright; he seemed upset.”

“Ehh, I’m sure he’ll get over it,” Gaku put an arm around her shoulders to reassure her. The sleeve of his patterned samue draped around her back, enveloping her in his warmth and the faint scent of soba. “Say, how about we go out tomorrow?” 

“I shouldn’t…” she reluctantly said as she stepped out from under his arm. “I have to help my class make our decorations for our cafe for the festival. And I have to meet with the design club to check on the posters.”

Gaku’s eyes lit up despite her refusal. “What kind of cafe is it?”

Her face reddened and she looked down, fussing with the ends of her hair. “It’s a cat cafe.”

“Like, with real cats or…” 

“Four of our classmates are bringing their cats in, but the rest of the class voted that all the waitresses and waiters have to wear cat ears and tails. Since I didn’t have a cat to bring, and Kinako would startle the cats, I have to be a waitress.”

Gaku recited a silent prayer of thanks for all of the boys of Tsumugi’s class who made this opportunity possible. “I bet you’ll look cute in that,” he said with a smirk. “I’ll come support your class before the concert.”

“N-n-no, y-y-you don’t have to do that!” She waved her arms frantically. 

“What?” He stepped closer to her. “If the boys in your school get to see you as a cat waitress,” he leaned close to her right ear, “doesn’t your new boyfriend deserve the same thing?”

Tsumugi almost melted to the floor but managed to save herself by reaching behind and steadying herself with the table. “I-I-I suppose there’s no helping it,” she forced out in a whisper. “B-but not for a long visit, okay?”

Gaku couldn’t help but chuckle. “You can come to my class’s soba stall and watch me make soba noodles. That’ll make us even.”

“I would love to see that,” she spoke with a smile now. “Though I think I will still be more embarrassed than you.”

“Haha, probably. Ah—that’s my phone.” He pulled his cell phone out from inside his samue. “Pops is telling me to get back to work.”

“Oh no, I’m sorry I kept you long! Good luck with your work!”

“Don’t worry about it. It was worth missing work for. I’ll text you later. Bye!”

“O-okay! Bye!” She waved to him as he jogged away. Then she plopped into one of the chairs and sighed, trying to get her breathing and heart rate back to normal. “I hope everything will work out like he says it will.”


	9. Cat Cafe and Performance Prep

The students of Takanashi, Yaotome, and Tsukumo high schools were bustling about more than a hive of bees as the festival approached. It had been two weeks since the students had visited each other’s schools, and IDOLiSH7 and TRIGGER had visited each other’s stages a few times for practice to get used to the different settings. Neither could get rehearsal practices at Tsukumo High due to ZOOL claiming they were too busy to host guests. Gaku and Tsumugi were able to meet up a few times on their own for small dates here and there, but much of their time was poured into competition or festival preparations. 

There was only one day left until the three festivals would begin and last for four days. The sing-off would first take place at Takanashi High, then the second day at Yaotome High, and the last at Tsukumo Prep. The fourth day of the festival would be free from the competition and allow the students time to experience their own festivals. Everything was prepared, and all that was left to do was for IDOLiSH7 to have one last practice session. 

“That was great, guys!” Yamato said slightly out of breath as he and the rest of the group finished running through the choreography. Just as Nagi had said, Yamato got over the news about Tsumugi and Gaku, though he would occasionally make sarcastic remarks whenever Gaku’s or TRIGGER’s names were mentioned, and always gave Gaku a hard time when he came for a visit.

“Can we take a pudding break now?” Tamaki wiped the sweat from his face. 

“How can you possibly still be hungry, Yotsuba-san?” Iori asked exasperatedly. 

“I’ve got a different stomach for pudding,” he shrugged in reply. 

“Why don’t you take a five minute break,” Tsumugi suggested. 

“Who were you texting a little bit ago?” Mitsuki asked, sitting down next to Tsumugi and taking a sip from his water bottle. 

“Ah, it was nothing.” She quickly slipped her phone back into her purse just as another text was coming in. 

“That said 'Gaku', didn’t it?” he said with a smug grin. “Are you two on a first name, no honorifics level relationship already?”

“I-I-I just didn’t put the honorific in his contact info.”

“But you do call him by his first name.”

She nodded slightly. 

“Hehehe, he really did get farther than any of us. Is TRIGGER ready for tomorrow?”

“They’ve been ready, at least that is what Gaku-kun has told me. Neither of us has heard much from ZOOL either.”

“I have a weird feeling about those guys,” Mitsuki remarked. 

“They did make me a bit uncomfortable when they visited...I hope they won’t cause trouble for anyone during the festival.”

“Speaking of, what’s keeping students of the other schools from buying tickets to more than one sing-off and voting more than once for their favorite group?”

“In order to purchase a ticket, students must show their school ID, and any family or friends must purchase their tickets under the students’ information. Iori-kun suggested the system, and all three schools decided to use it.”

“Just like my little brother to be so clever,” Mitsuki said proudly. 

“The idol club is lucky to have you both,” Tsumugi replied sweetly. 

*********

It was now the first day of the cultural festival. The competition was not until 5:30, giving the members of the idol club the opportunity to still participate in their classroom or club activities as well as have a little bit of free time. TRIGGER and ZOOL were invited to explore Takanashi’s festival as early as they’d like before they had to be at the auditorium by 4:00, but only TRIGGER took them up on that offer. 

“Aw come on, Gaku, let’s stick together for now,” Ryuunosuke pleaded as he, Gaku, and Tenn walked under the festival welcome sign of Takanashi High. “We’ve been on our own all morning, it’d be nice to spend time together before the sing-off starts.”

“If it means that much to you, fine. But we are heading to where I wanna go first,” Gaku relented after seeing Ryuu’s puppy-like disappointed face. 

“And where’s that?” Tenn asked sarcastically. 

“Class 2-C.”

“Fufufu, he even knows the room number.”

“Oh just hush,” Gaku pouted and stormed forward.

“Wait for us!” Ryuu called and hurried after him. 

They made their way to the second level of the school and found the room with a sign that read “Neko Cafe” and was decorated with cats. A girl with raven black hair in a flouncy maid outfit sporting black cat ears and a tail was standing in the doorway inviting people to stop in. She recognized the three boys and became a stumbling mess when they stopped and asked for a table. She showed them to a table and scuttled off to send over a server. 

Tsumugi bashfully walked over holding a notepad and pencil. “W-Welcome to the Neko Cafe! How can I be of service?”

Gaku was spellbound. The sight of Tsumugi in her yellow cat ears, pink choker with a bell, and long-skirted maid uniform was too much for him. Even Ryuunosuke was blushing slightly. Tenn was finding more enjoyment in watching his friends get flustered. 

“That outfit suits you well, Manager-chan,” Tenn said coyly. “I’ll have the Ne-coco crepes.”

“Ah, I’ll have the Purrfect Parfait,” Ryuunosuke requested. 

“A-And for you, Honered Guest?” Tsumugi directed at Gaku, whose ears were now bright red. 

“Oh, um,” he fumbled at the little menu on the table. “I’ll have the Strawpurries and Cream Nyanko Pan.”

“Right away, sirs!” Tsumugi did a small curtsy before almost running back towards the cooking station. 

With a dumb smile on his face, Gaku was watching her interact with her classmates as she bustled around helping get the order together.

“It’s a miracle the entire school doesn’t know about the two of you,” Tenn teased in a droll tone. 

“Can I help it if she looks super cute in that uniform?!” Gaku had leaned forward and hissed. 

“Oh, she’s coming back!” Ryuunosuke interrupted. 

Tsumugi came over with a tray. “Here’s your parfait, and your crepes, and lastly your Nyanko Pan. Is there anything I can—”

Just then a waiter in orange cat ears with black hair and blonde highlighted tips and a camera around his neck walked past and interrupted, “Don’t forget to tell them about the premium package, Maneko-chan!”

“What’s the premium package?” Gaku asked eagerly when he saw Tsumugi had started blushing. 

“Ah! Um, well, for 500 yen you can have a Polaroid photo of you and your waitress or your choice of cat.”

“I see,” Gaku could barely hide his excitement. “You can add that to our bill please.”

“Wh-whatever you wish,” she responded meekly. “Enjoy your food!” With another curtsy she scurried off. 

Once they were done eating, Tsumugi cleared their dishes and the waiter from before joined her. “Are you ready for your photo?” He held up the camera and flashed a toothy grin. 

“Yes, he is,” Tenn answered. “Ryuu, let’s go look at the cats.”

“Huh? Oh, sure!” Ryuu caught on and followed Tenn over to the back corner, where a cat bed held a fluffy white Munchkin curled on top of a sleepy Bengal. 

“Just you then?” the waiter asked.

“Yeah,” Gaku answered quickly, in a mixture of irritation for the smug look Tenn had given and gratefulness for him leaving him to get a picture alone with Tsumugi. 

“Alright, then get close, you two, and say ‘Nyaa!’”

She shyly walked up next to Gaku, allowing him to put his arm lightly around her. They both said a somewhat awkward "Nya" in unison as the camera flashed. He hesitantly let her go and allowed her to step away. 

“Thank you for your patronage,” she and the waiter said with a bow. The waiter handed Gaku the photo and moved on to the next table. 

“You look great,” Gaku managed to say after intently staring at the photo. 

“Th-Thanks...have you seen anything else yet?”

“No, we came straight here first.”

“Ah, then you should see the things that IDOLiSH7 helped do for their classes and clubs! They would appreciate you guys showing up I am sure. Sougo-kun and Tamaki-kun have a music, coffee, and pudding shop next door for the Music Appreciation and the King Pudding clubs.”

“Alright, we’ll be sure to check it out. Thanks for everything. See you in a few hours for the competition.”

“Thank you for coming! See you later,” she waved to him as he went to retrieve Tenn and Ryuunosuke. A svelt Russian Blue had been attacking Tenn's hands as he tried to feed him treats, while Ryuu had been sitting on the floor snuggling the Munchkin and Bengal.

They visited next door for coffee, though Tamaki was already out of pudding partially due to eating most of it himself. Yamato’s class was putting on a play, but it had already started when they got there. Mitsuki and the cooking club had a confectionery set up where they were selling small cakes, fudge, and homemade chocolate. Tenn bought a good deal of things there for himself, and Gaku bought a small box of chocolates with Tsumugi in mind. 

Next they went down to the first floor to Riku’s class, who was holding a haunted house. It was surprisingly scary, making all three of the boys jump quite a few times. However, all of the scariness was turned on its head at the very last stretch. After a particularly startling jumpscare, the lights slightly brightened as they continued walking. Then, a redheaded boy with a tiny pair of horns on his head jumped out from the side holding a blue flame. 

“Boo!” he shouted playfully. Gaku and Ryuunosuke winced, but soon realized how non-threatening this adversary was. 

“How cute,” Tenn muttered, looking at the oni in front of him with a bemused look. 

“I said, ‘BOO!’” the boy shook the flame around and tried to make an intimidating expression, but the three were not affected. “Aw man, another group I couldn’t scare!” He crossed his arms and pouted.

“Nanase-kun, is that you?” Ryuunosuke asked. 

“Eh, TRIGGER?! So you did make it here! Tenn-nii—”

“Shouldn’t you be scaring people,” Tenn interrupted flatly. “Take your job seriously.” He briskly brushed past Riku and continued through to the end. 

“Nice try, kid. Keep at it,” Gaku patted Riku on the back as he passed him.

“We’ll see you later, good work!” Ryuu called behind as he followed after Tenn and Gaku. 

Once they finished the haunted house, TRIGGER explored the stalls outside. They checked out the petting zoo Iori was helping manage with his class, and they watched the anime club recreate iconic scenes from popular anime on a pop-up stage. Of course Nagi was recreating scenes from Magical Kokona and was putting his heart and soul into it. Gaku caught sight of Kaoru in the crowd and the three met up with her. 

“I didn’t take you for an anime fan,” Gaku remarked as they began heading for the auditorium. 

“I just wanted to see what that blonde one was being so loud about,” Kaoru said, proudly sticking her head in the air. 

“Have you seen ZOOL anywhere yet?” Tenn asked when they got to the auditorium. 

“Not a single sighting of them,” she shook her head. “I heard some kids at a couple stalls say they didn’t see them anywhere yet either.”

“That’s not a very good sign…” Ryuunosuke looked nervous. “They perform after IDOLiSH7, right?”

“Mhm. They have twenty more minutes to get here in time before I call their manager.” Kaoru crossed her arms resolutely. 

Not much later Tsumugi, now in her school uniform, entered the auditorium. “Ah, good, TRIGGER is here. Hello, Anesagi-chan! I hope you’ve been enjoying our festival!”

“Not quite as fancy as ours, but still nice! Your drama club has some talent too; I watched their play.”

“Heh, Tsumugi,” Gaku got close to her, making her squeak. “You forgot to take these off.” He removed the cat ears headband from her head. 

“O-Oh! Thank you, that would have been embarrassing!” She took back her headband sheepishly. “Any sign of ZOOL?”

“Not yet, I am minutes away from calling their hack of a manager,” Kaoru’s irritation flared. 

“I would appreciate it if you did,” Tsumugi said with a degree of irritation as well. “I need to make sure the rest of the boys will be here in time too. Ah, the first- and third-years are back!”

Riku and Tamaki followed by Yamato and Mitsuki joined them. “I’m gonna go get Nagi,” Mitsuki announced when he saw he wasn’t there yet. 

“Thank you, Mitsuki-senpai! That saves me time. I’ll get in contact with the rest of the second-years—oh there’s Iori-kun now.”

“Greetings, everyone. Takanashi-san, Osaka-san will be here momentarily. He got delayed talking with a customer but is now on his way.”

“Perfect, thank you! For now why don’t the four of you head backstage to start getting cleaned up and dressed. And TRIGGER, if you like you can just wait in your green room or out here in the front row. 

“We’ll stay here and keep a lookout for ZOOL,” Ryuunosuke volunteered. 

Three people entered the auditorium. It was Sougo and Yuki chatting away about music, and close behind was the waiter with highlights from the neko cafe. 

“Yuki-senpai, you came?!” Gaku asked surprised. 

“The principal said I should come support you since I am the president of the club, even if I am not performing.”

Tsumugi looked up from her planner and said to the boy from the cafe, “Ah, Momo-kun, you made it too, great! We are going to need your help moving equipment now,”

“He’s in the idol club too?” Gaku asked. 

“Not exactly. Momo-kun is president of the soccer club, but he lends his strength to the idol club when we have concerts and have to move around things.”

“So that’s who this kid who has been following me like a puppy is,” Yuki said as he glanced at Momo with a wry grin.

“I-I wasn’t meaning to follow you!” Momo said hurriedly. “I was just building up the gumption to say hi.”

“Hi,” Yuki said cooly. 

“So ikemen…” Momo breathed. 

“Aaand prez has made a new fan for doing barely anything,” Gaku shook his head with a resigned smile. 

“Momo-kun, you can start helping move the amps into place,” Tsumugi instructed. 

Momo shook his head quickly to shake off his dazed look. “Yes ma’am!”

Mitsuki finally came back with Nagi, who was sulking due to being pulled away from his reenactments. 

“Go ahead and join the others in getting ready, I’ll take care of everything else. Anesagi-chan, let me know what ZOOL’s manager says when he answers.”

“He said they will be here in twenty minutes!” Kaoru announced. “Really, so inconsiderate and unprofessional to not notify us! They just show up whenever they please!”

“We can’t stop or delay the competition,” Tsumugi shook her head. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but we might need TRIGGER to perform second to give ZOOL enough time to prepare.”

“Understood,” Tenn nodded, “we need to consider our audience’s experience rather than our preference.”

ZOOL showed up too late to get ready in time, causing the schedule to have to be changed like they planned. Yet again, their manager was not with them. Touma just plainly apologized on behalf of the others and tried to hurry his group-mates along so they could get ready. 


	10. Sing-off Day 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recommend having Viva Fantastic Life!!!!!!! ready to play during this chapter. :D

It was finally time for the sing-off to begin. The MC for the event was the music teacher Banri. “Welcome to the Tri-High Festival Sing-Off! Is everyone ready to hear some music!”

“Kyaaaah!” The audience responded with cheers and applause. 

“Our first performance will be from Takanashi’s own idol club, IDOLiSH7!” After the crowd’s cheers died down again, he continued, “Remember, voting will take place after all three performances. For now, please enjoy IDOLiSH7’s performance of ‘Viva Fantastic Life!!!!!!!’!”

As Banri exited the stage and the crowd cheered, the curtain opened and IDOLiSH7 ran forward. Tsumugi was backstage with her fingers crossed, praying everything went without issue. ZOOL was in their green room, paying no mind and still getting ready. 

“They get the crowd pretty excited,” Gaku commented as he, Tenn, Ryuunosuke, and Kaoru watched from backstage. 

“Even Tamaki-kun yelling at the girls to stop screaming is getting them excited,” Ryuu said with a chuckle. 

“Talk is nothing; they better bring a heart-stopping performance if they think they can beat us.” Tenn’s eyes were fixed on Riku as the music began. He continued to watch, seemingly unfazed. 

“They’ve got a few rough spots to work on,” Gaku mused as the song was coming to a close, “but they work great together.”

“Riku-kun is a great center.” Ryuu tilted his head to the side in thought. “Y’know, he kind of reminds me of you, Tenn.”

“Huu?” Tenn glanced at Ryuunosuke doubtfully. 

“I’m serious, something about his face reminds me of you. Though he is a lot more energetic, he rounds out his group well, just like you do for us.”

“He needs to refine his movements and work more on singing from his diaphragm. We are not at the same level...yet.”

“Tch, always so nit-picky.” Gaku rolled his eyes and continued watching IDOLiSH7 close out their performance. 

“And you’re always too relaxed.”

“Guys, our cue to come on stage is coming up, let’s not fight,” Ryuu pointed out that Banri had come back on stage and IDOLiSH7 was leaving. As soon as they heard Banri say “TRIGGER!” and the crowd began to roar, the three ran out on stage.

“Everyone, thank you for having us!” Tenn’s demeanor instantly switched to his usual onstage cheerfulness. “Please join us in enjoying our latest single ‘DIAMOND FUSION’!”

The crowd cheered loudly, perhaps even more than they did for IDOLiSH7. As the boys got water and towels they watched TRIGGER perform. Tsumugi was trying not to show how much she was enjoying watching them perform once again. 

Mitsuki sighed, “Do we even stand a chance? They are amazing.”

“We’ve got a good following here, and we have Nananse-san. With him as center we can win,” Iori said matter-of-factly. 

“Tenn-nii…” Riku muttered, mesmerized by Tenn’s onstage presence. “He looks so happy…”

“We still have two performances left, so we still have opportunities to dazzle more lovely fans,” Nagi pointed out.

ZOOL finally emerged from their green room and ambled over to where IDOLiSH7 was watching TRIGGER. 

“Ah, ZOOL! All ready to go onstage?” Tsumugi tried to sound cheerful despite their uninterested looks. 

Torao perked up and smirked, walking up to her. “More like are you ready to wish you were going to Tsukumo Prep so you could see more of me? Because we are gonna knock you off your feet with our song.”

“Oh brother, Torao,” Haruka rolled his eyes. “Do girls actually fall for some of the lame things you say?”

“What do you mean ‘lame’?! Oi, Mina, tell him I’m not lame.”

“Why would I tell him a lie?” Minami said coolly. “It’s obvious you only make their manager uncomfortable with your excessive flirtations.”

“Excessive my as—”

“Looks like TRIGGER’s done now,” Touma cut in. 

“Good, it’s about time that lame Tenn got off the stage,” Haruka said, tugging on his choker.

“Tenn-n—kun isn’t lame!” Riku’s eyes flashed with anger.

“Tch, I can call him lame if I want, he’s my foster brother. And who do you think _you_ are to protest?”

“I’m—” Riku held back the truth. He didn’t want to cause trouble for Tenn if people outside of his idol club friends found out they were twins. “I just like his music, is all…”

“That’s what everyone says,” Haruka rolled his eyes again. 

“C’mon guys, focus!” Touma sounded frustrated. “Our time to kill it is coming soon!”

“Yeah yeah, we’re paying attention. TRIGGER just left the stage and that ponytail guy is announcing our name,” Torao spouted off the current situation then winked at Tsumugi, making her shift from side to side and look down at her toes. 

“Should we do a huddle?” Touma suggested. 

“What are we, an American football team?” Haruka said sarcastically. 

“That is pretty lame, Touma,” Torao chuckled. 

“Let’s just run on stage like we always do,” Minami suggested. 

Touma sighed with resignation and led his group-mates up the steps and onto the stage. 

TRIGGER made their way over to the other side of backstage from where they had exited and grabbed water from the refreshments table. Gaku immediately walked up to Tsumugi with a wide grin. 

“Hey, how did we d—Tsumugi, what’s wrong? You look uncomfortable.”

“Ah, no, no, i-i-it’s nothing, really. No need to worry.” She tried to smile warmly at him. “All three of you did wonderful, even better than when you performed it at your concert.”

Gaku saw through her deflection and glanced around at the members of IDOLiSH7. “Did something happen?”

Everyone was silent at first. 

“You, Yotsuba, was it? What happened?”

“It isn’t your place to say, Tamaki-kun,” Sougo whispered. 

“Sorry, Gakkun.”

“He deserves to know, and it pisses me off too,” Mitsuki said. “It’s that Midou guy. He’s always making moves on Tsumugi-chan and being extra flirty with her.”

“Ehh,” Gaku ruminated on this, his face turning dark. “Thank you for telling me.”

“P-p-please don’t do anything, he hasn’t done anything that bad…”

“He’s making you uncomfortable, and I can’t let that stand, not just as your boyfriend. A guy shouldn’t be a creep, especially if the girl has shown she isn’t interested.”

“Gaku, how about you hold off on the fire-starting until after we win the sing-off?” Tenn suggested. “Remember your promise to keep the competition the priority.”

Gaku clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, then relaxed when Tsumugi rested a hand gently on his arm. “I’m fine, really, Gaku-kun. Please, let’s just forget anything happened.”

“I will never forget, but I will put the thought to rest...for now.”

“I guess that’s the best we can get,” Ryuu said. “Ah, their song started!”

“What was the song called? I didn’t catch it,” Sougo asked. 

“I think it was ‘LOOK AT...’,” Yamato answered. “Geez, they’re kind of intense.”

“It looks like all the younger kids in the crowd are loving it though…” Sougo said, his brow furrowed with concern. 

“They are incredibly unpolished,” Tenn commented mostly to himself, “like they didn’t bother rehearsing much at all.”

“But their dancing is good,” Tamaki rebutted. “Sou-chan, do I dance that good?”

“Of course, Tamaki-kun! Your dancing is great! A-as is Tsunashi-kun’s. Both of your dancing is always high caliber.”

“Eh? Always? I thought you said you had only heard a couple of our songs” Gaku asked quizzically. 

“Oh, um, well, I saw a few fan cams circulating around on social media, then I did a little of my own research.”

“He even bought your single!” Tamaki piped up. 

“T-Tamaki-kun, you didn’t need to tell them that!”

Tamaki shrugged. “If you like ‘em, why hide it? Their music is good.”

“Well either way,” Gaku chuckled, “thanks for being interested in TRIGGER.”

“Wow, the crowd is cheering pretty loud now,” Riku half whispered. 

“They are probably just excited due to the combined experience of listening to two groups perform before them.” Iori was trying his best to reason this away. “I’m sure our school will be loyal to us.”

“I hope so…”

ZOOL strutted off the stage as Banri went on about where the voting stations were and how it is one vote per person for the group they thought had the best performance. 

“And _that’s_ how you put on a show,” Haruka said snidely as he walked past Tenn. “We’ll see you guys tomorrow, that is if you still feel brave enough to show your faces against us.” They continued walking straight into their green room, leaving no room for any protest. 

“What a mouth on that kid!” Yamato shook his head. 

“I don’t like them,” Gaku said, his eyes drilling daggers into Torao’s back after seeing him wink as he passed Tsumugi. 

“We only have to put up with them for two more days,” Ryuunosuke tried to reason. “Let’s just continue to do our best and ignore their attitude.”

“And tomorrow we will be in our domain,” Tenn added, “which means we can keep an eye on them if we have to.”

He and Gaku shared knowing smiles, causing Ryuunosuke to mumble, “Were neither of you listening when I said to ignore them?”

“We should be getting ready to go now,” Kaoru broke in. “We have an early day tomorrow at our own cultural festival, and you boys need rest.”

“Oh that’s right!” Riku finally broke out of his melancholy mood. “Tenn-ni—Tenn-kun, what are you doing for your festival?”

Tenn stared at him for a moment then replied, “My class decided on a cosplay cafe.”

“ _OH_!” Nagi’s eyes shined with excitement. “Can people who attend show up in cosplay too?”

“I suppose they could, but it might cause trouble. We are having a contest for which costume among the servers is best.”

“Tell them what you’re dressing up as, Tenn,” Gaku said smugly. 

“The girls chose an angel character for me.”

“Imagine, this brat kid as an angel,” Gaku couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Kujou-kun does have a very angelic face,” Tsumugi said cheerfully to try to diffuse the threatening gaze Tenn was giving Gaku. “I am sure he will look lovely. Tsunashi-kun, what are you doing for the festival?”

“Ah, my swim club is having a few races. But I am doing a swim-athon. Our coach pledged that for as many laps around the pool I can do in an hour, he will donate 500 yen per lap to the charity of my choice.”

“That’s a lot of swimming! Won’t you be too tired to perform after that?”

“I’m used to having to keep up a lot of stamina, and I used to swim out in the ocean back in my hometown. Plus it is only one song, so I should be fine,” he smiled pleasantly. “After that though, I am supposed to go help out at Gaku and my class’s soba stand.”

“Ah, Gaku-kun mentioned that! He’s making the soba noodles himself!”

“And I hope you will still come to watch me,” Gaku flashed a crooked grin. 

“O-of course! We will all come early to visit all of your activities.”

“Good.”

“Alright, let’s go, Mr. Romance,” Kaoru pulled Gaku back by his belt before he started to lean in closer to Tsumugi. 

“I’ll message you later!” Gaku called as he followed after the others. 

Tsumugi waved goodbye before attending to getting the auditorium closed down for the day. 


	11. Swimming, Angels, and Soba

“Tsunashi Ryuunosuke is on his seventeenth lap!” the student announcer could be heard declaring, as Tsumugi and the members of IDOLiSH7 peeked into the pool hall at Yaotome High. It was the next day just after noon, and their first activity was dropping by to watch Ryuu swim. “And our new challenger is catching up! Midou Torao is making the turn on his sixteenth!”

“Wow, look at them go!” Mitsuki exclaimed.

“I didn’t know Midou-kun was taking part in Ryuunosuke-kun’s challenge,” Sougo commented as he watched the two continue to swim.

“Midou-san joined in last minute when he saw Tsunashi-san was about to begin, and now it’s become a race!” one of the girls watching nearby volunteered the information.

“There’s a half hour left on the clock!” “Let’s stick around and see who wins then,” Yamato suggested.

“Yeah, let’s cheer Ryuu-aniki on!” Tamaki pumped his fist.

“Midou is now only half of a lap behind Tsunashi! There’s three minutes left!” the announcer updated some time later. “Tsunashi is making the turn on Lap Thirty-Four, getting ready to start his thirty-fifth. Midou is close behind, making the turn!”

“It is a very close race,” Iori was getting a bit antsy as he watched closely. “Though I think Tsunashi-san will keep his lead.”

“Half a minute to spare, and Tsunashi is rounding off with his thirty-fifth lap! That means Sensei will have to donate at least 35,000 yen! Midou is still slightly behind but seems to be picking up speed last minute!”

“This isn’t fair, it was Ryuunosuke-kun’s challenge to start, and that Midou is trying to overtake him,” the girl from earlier commented to her friends.

“But at least Sensei said he would double his donation if Ryuunosuke-kun wins!”

“Can he really afford that though, on his salary?” another girl giggled.

The horn sounded, signaling the end of the race. Both swimmers stopped where they were. Ryuunosuke just barely managed to touch the other side of the pool, and Torao was a few feet behind him.

“That makes Tsunashi-san our winner!” the announcer cheered. “Sensei must now donate 36,000 yen!”

The room erupted in screams and shouts, leaving Torao scowling and Ryuunosuke waving his arms in thanks to everyone. As the two exited the pool, some of the onlookers moved on to the next attraction. Ryuunosuke met up with his teammates, who immediately began thumping him on the back or ribbing their coach excitedly.

Torao stalked away, but then noticed Tsumugi. His demeanor changed and he started strutting over to her like a proud cat. “Hey, Takanashi-chan,” he said while slicking back his still dripping hair, “so, you heard I was swimming and just had to come watch me, right?”

“Ah, n-no,” Tsumugi took a stumble back, shaking her head vehemently, “we came to cheer on Ryuunosuke-kun.”

“Eh, you should have been here for me. Then again, you don’t have my number, so how could you know I was here? So, why don’t we fix that?” he asked, taking a couple steps closer.

Suddenly a towel pelted Torao square on the back of his head. “Midou-san,” Ryuunosuke’s ever-friendly voice sounded out from behind him as Torao grunted in surprise. “You forgot a towel,” Ryuu smoothly stepped around Torao and faced the group. “Ah, Takanashi-chan, IDOLiSH7! Glad you could make it to our festival! Let me get changed and I can show you around before I have to help out at the soba stall! You should get changed too, Midou-san,” he said, turning around and giving him a warning glare.

“Yeah, guess so,” Torao grumbled as he began drying his hair out with the towel.

“Th-thank you,” Tsumugi said to Ryuunosuke, who waved in such a way to say it was nothing.

Once Ryuunosuke returned from getting changed, he began leading the eight through the main school building. “So, was it just you guys who came?” he asked as they walked through the first years’ hallway.

“Momo-kun came along too, but he wanted to explore on his own,” Tsumugi replied. “He said he would be back in time to help us set up.”

“Well, hopefully he enjoys himself too. Ah, if we hurry, we can make it to Tenn’s class’s cafe before they take a break!” Ryuunosuke led the way forward and up to the third years’ floor.

“I can’t wait to see Tenn-nii as an angel,” Riku murmured.

“I’m with Yaotome on this one,” Yamato snickered to Mitsuki and Nagi, “I can't imagine that guy as an angelic type with how he is when you really get to know him.”

“ _OH_ Yamato! Don’t underestimate the powers of a man’s gap moe!”

“What the heck is a ‘gap moe’? And how did you change into that costume so quickly?!” Yamato looked up and down at Nagi’s new ensemble of a princely character.

“It’s a term to describe anime characters!” Nagi began to explain as he adjusted the front clasp of a cape. “And I am always ready to get into costume!”

“Welcome to Class 3-1’s Cosplay Cafe!” a chipper girl in a white leotard and blue mini skirt exclaimed as the group entered the room. She swung her long blonde pigtails out of her way as she walked over. “Oh, Ryuu-kun! I’ll bring Tenn-kun to be your server!”

“Thanks, Satomi-chan!”

“ _WOW_! Everyone’s costumes are so wonderful!” Nagi’s eyes were sparkling as he admired the servers’ outfits and the decorations.

Not long later, Tenn glided over to them. He was wearing an all-white princely suit with large, feathery wings on his back. His hair was in its usual style, though the long strand in the front was fishtail braided and held together at the end by a gold bead. A braided gold circlet was poised on his head like a halo. Glittery makeup made his face shine, amplifying his serene expression. “Welcome to our small patch of heaven,” he said calmly with a kind smile. He gestured for them to follow him over to a table.

“Tenn-nii…” Riku fought the urge to say too loudly.

“Truly angelic,” Ryuunosuke said almost trance-like. “Thanks, Tenn.”

“It is our pleasure to serve,” Tenn said with a bow. “I’ll have to seat your party at two tables, since there are so many of you.”

“He’s so different,” Yamato was still startled.

“It’s like an actual angel is serving us,” Mitsuki said, fully accepting the dreamy atmosphere.

“Everyone is so dedicated to their cosplay!” Nagi exclaimed as he watched a bespectacled server with large engine-looking devices strapped to his legs speed around on roller skates while shouting instructions to keep things orderly.

“Makes me feel a bit out of place here, not being in a costume” Sougo said bashfully.

“Sou-chan, look,” Tamaki tugged at his sleeve and pushed the menu towards him. “There's no King Pudding!”

"Just get something else then, and we will find some later."

The group enjoyed their time at the cafe, and after saying goodbye to Tenn they continued touring the festival. Once Ryuunosuke led them through the rest of the school, he then took them to the outdoor stalls set up on the lawn behind the main building. There were several food stalls, a few craft stalls, and one or two pop-up stages. While they were meandering about, they even managed to watch the school’s marching band perform.

“I’m hungry,” Tamaki complained a little while later.

“But we just ate at Kujou-san’s cafe!” Iori protested.

“True,” Sougo spoke up, “but all Tamaki-kun ate was ice cream.”

“It’s about time for me to head over to my class’s stall now anyways. You could get food there,” Ryuunosuke suggested.

“I could go for more food, but I’d kill for a well-chilled root beer,” Yamato said wistfully.

“I can’t guarantee they will have root beer at a soba stall, but I’m sure there will be something cold to drink.”

“Alright then, let’s give it a try. Besides, I bet our manager is dying to see her boyfriend.” Yamato smirked mischievously as he watched Tsumugi’s face begin to turn pink.

“Yeah,” Mitsuki joined in, “I’m pretty sure I saw her gasp as soon as Tsunashi-kun mentioned his name.”

“Hey, don’t tease her!” Riku tried to defend.

“We’re just teasing a little,” Yamato waved off the protest.

“Oi, Ryuu!” a voice called out nearby.

Ryuunosuke faced where the voice was coming from and caught sight of Gaku waving at him from a few stalls away. “Ah, there’s Gaku!”

“Hey,” Gaku greeted warmly when the group met up with him. “Congratulations on winning that race, Ryuu! They announced it through the PA system. I bet you’re starving, so you can start helping out after you eat. And the rest of you are just in time, I’m about to cut the soba noodles.” He stepped back into the stand and picked up a large cutting tool as everyone gathered around to watch. Gaku deftly began cutting the stack of dough into very thin strips.

“He’s chopping so fast!” Riku exclaimed.

“Who knew the Most Desired Hug was so good with a knife! It’s like he’s been doing this for years,” Mitsuki commented.

Tsumugi grinned proudly as she watched Gaku’s every move. He would occasionally look up from his work and smirk at her, causing her to blush. Once he had cut all of the dough into noodles, he scooped them up and passed them to the student handling the boiling water.

“Nine orders of soba!” Gaku announced as he began handing out everyone’s bowls. “This one,” he said as he placed a bowl in Tsumugi’s hands, “is on the house.”

“Ah, Gaku-kun, I couldn’t—”

“Let me spoil you,” he interrupted while flashing a charming smile.

Tsumugi’s face was almost as warm as the bowl of soba she was holding. “Th-thank you very much!”

“I’m taking my break in about twenty minutes after I prep another batch of noodles. Meet me outside the concert hall back doors,” he informed her in a hushed voice as he picked up another bowl to pass out. He grinned again as he watched her quickly nod her head.

The group took their soba out to one of the several picnic tables set up in the open grass. After everyone eagerly exclaimed “Thank you for the food!” in unison, they began to inhale their food.

“This is delicious!” Sougo said after his first taste.

“It would taste better with a root beer,” Yamato grumbled with a smirk.

“This tastes like the stuff we get from Yamamura’s,” Tamaki commented as he picked up another large tangle of noodles with his chopsticks.

“Now that you mention it, Yotsuba-san,” Iori said after wiping his mouth, “not only does it taste like it, but didn’t Yaotome-san almost look like that delivery person from the other day?”

“Oh, hahaha,” Ryuunosuke hurriedly answered, “That’s because there is a boy who works there who is always getting mistaken as Gaku. He gave Gaku some tips on the recipe to make sure it turned out right.”

Iori looked at Ryuunosuke incredulously, making Ryuu laugh nervously and say before taking a large mouthful of soba, “Mmm, I sure built up an appetite after all that swimming!”

“Well wherever the recipe came from, it is super good!” Mitsuki said with his mouth half full.

Once Tsumugi was done with her soba, she got up and announced, “I am going to go check to make sure everything is okay at the stage.”

“What about the rest of the festival?” Riku asked with puppy dog eyes.

“You boys go on without me, and I’ll meet up again with you later. You can show me photos of what you see. Have fun!” She waved goodbye before briskly walking towards the concert hall.

“She is totally gonna go meet Gaku,” Yamato said blankly.

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Mitsuki agreed with a smirk.


	12. Caught in a Rabbit Trap

Tsumugi reached the back of the concert hall where she had agreed to meet Gaku, but he wasn’t there yet. She pulled out her phone and sent him a rabbit chat to let him know she was there, to which he responded that he would be there soon. Giggling over the fiery Pudding sticker he sent, Tsumugi ambled around near the doors and took in her surroundings. There wasn’t anyone really around on the backside of the building, since all of the festivities were set up at the front or by the main building. The tennis court was a short distance away, but nobody was on it. 

One of the double back doors to the concert hall softly opened, but Tsumugi had her back turned to it. “Well hello there, little manager,” she heard a slightly familiar voice say right in her left ear a moment later. 

“Uwaa!” Tsumugi cringed and whirled around. “M-M-Midou-san! You startled me!”

Torao laughed smugly. “Your reaction was perfect though. You are cute when you get scared.”

She cleared her throat and tried to calm herself. “What are you doing here so early?”

“The guys made me come over here to accept our equipment delivery. What are  _ you _ doing here so early?” As he asked, he took a step closer to her.

While taking a few steps backwards towards the doors, she replied, “Just meeting up with someone and making sure things were being set up all right.”

“Uh huh,” he followed her, keeping very little distance between them, “meeting someone, eh?” He smirked devilishly as he noticed how close to the wall of the building they were getting. “I bet you somehow learned I was gonna be here, and you showed up in hopes of meeting up with me.”

“That wasn’t it at all!” She frantically waved her hands as she continued to back up. However, she was out of space and backed right up against the wall. “I had no clue anyone else besides me would be here!”

“Sure, keep playing the innocent lamb,” Torao lowly chuckled, putting his right forearm on the wall above Tsumugi’s head and leaning forward. He took a deep inhale, then said, “Mmm, quite the intoxicating perfume you’re wearing, almost like you are begging to be kissed.”

“Th-that’s not it at all!” Tsumugi insisted and tried to duck away from him. But he was too fast; he briskly slammed his other hand onto the wall by her shoulder, his body within inches of hers. “Please let me go, Midou-san,” she shakily yet sternly said. “You’re too close.”

“Oho, no need to be so shy. I know girls dream all about this kind of stuff.” He brought his lips towards Tsumugi’s neck despite her attempts to push him away. 

Suddenly Torao was jerked away from Tsumugi and nearly tumbled to the ground. He regained his footing and yelled, “What do you think you’re doing?! Mind your own business, man!”

“Gaku-kun!” Tsumugi exclaimed, holding her hands to her chest in concern.

“Is that how you treat girls, Midou?” Gaku asked disgustedly.

“Only the ones who asked for it,” Torao began to laugh, which very quickly turned into gasping and coughing as Gaku’s fist made contact with his gut. He fell to his knees and continued to try to catch his breath.   
Gaku winced at the pain shooting through his arm and shook out his hand, then jogged over to Tsumugi. “Tsumugi, are you alright? Here, let’s get you out of here.” He gently touched the top of her hand, making her jump slightly, but she shakily received his hand as she stared at the crumpled heap that was Torao. Gaku briskly led her into the concert hall and brought her to one of the seats on the outskirts of the stage. “Are you okay?” he asked once more. 

“Mhm,” Tsumugi nodded, then looked down. “I-I am okay,” she said, despite the fact that she was trembling.

“I should have gotten here sooner,” Gaku said with a pang of regret. "Do...you mind if I put my arm around you?"

"M-maybe not yet..."

"Sure, of course!  Are you sure you’re okay? He didn’t do anything?”

She looked up at him finally and smiled weakly, “You came just in time, Gaku. Eh!” She noticed the top of his knuckles looked red and grasped his hand in both of hers. “Your hand, Gaku! Does it hurt? Oh, we should find some ice! Where’s the nurse’s office? We need to make sure it doesn’t swell before the concert!”

Gaku couldn’t help but smile at her frantic concern for his well-being. “Don’t worry yourself, I’ll be fine. We have a mini fridge in our green room. We probably have some ice in the freezer.”

“I’ll be right back!” Tsumugi popped out of her seat and ran for the green room. 

His smile dropped as he watched her disappear into the other room. “ _ That piece of trash was lucky she’s alright, else I wouldn’t have held back just because he’s in the idol business too. He would have been unrecognizable if I had my way. _ ” His thoughts were interrupted as Tsumugi came trotting back out with a handful of ice. 

“I found some! Oh, you look so pained! Here, get my scarf out of my purse. We can wrap the ice in it.” He did as he was told, and she gently tied her scarf with the ice around his hand. She gently kissed the top of the scarf. “There, it should get better now.”

“Thanks. Hey, I noticed you called me Gaku a bit ago.”

“O-oh! I-I’m sorry, I was just so worried that—”

“No, no, it’s fine,” he said with a chuckle, “I liked it. Alot. I mean, I’ve been calling you just Tsumugi anyways.”

“I-it seemed so natural, I-I didn’t realize,” she said while blushing and looking down. 

“Well then, maybe we can make it our normal.”

“O-okay, I would like that,” she glanced up and smiled at him. “Oh, I just realized you changed out of your soba stall uniform!”

“Yeah, that was what took me so long. I got off early so I could walk around the festival with just you until we needed to come back here for the sing-off. Speaking of, are you up for walking around with me?”

“I’d love to, but what about your hand?”

“If anyone asks, just say I burned it on the soba pot. It should be fine soon anyways.”

“As long as that doesn’t worry too many people...alright,” she smiled excitedly at him. 

Gaku stood up and offered her the crook of his arm. She got up and accepted, being careful not to jostle his hand, which he left wrapped in her scarf after the ice had melted. They exited through the main doors, just in case Torao was still hanging around the back. Gaku led Tsumugi through the rest of the outdoor stalls that she hadn’t seen yet. Several girls did double-takes when they saw an unfamiliar girl on Gaku’s arm, but he completely ignored their agitated expressions and continued his idle conversation with Tsumugi, who was starting to act like herself once again. 


	13. Sing-off Day 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have "LOOK AT..." ready to listen to during this chapter if you want a little more immersion. ^.^

Around the time everyone was supposed to report to the concert hall to begin preparing for the live show, Gaku and Tsumugi were finishing up exploring the rest of the festival. They were walking through the school hallway when Gaku spoke up. “You gonna be alright seeing that piece of trash again? I know some of the guys from the martial arts club would love to work for me as bodyguards if you don’t feel safe.”

“That’s sweet of you to offer, but I think I will be alright. With everyone else around, I doubt he’ll do anything.”

Gaku grunted doubtfully and replied, “Even still. I’m gonna tell Kaoru-chan to watch out for you. She can strike fear into the hearts of anyone if she wanted to.”

“Just, don’t tell her exactly what happened,” Tsumugi said slowly, “It’d be embarrassing if anyone else learned about it.”

“You’re not even gonna tell IDOLiSH7?”

“Definitely not! At least not until after the sing-off is over tomorrow. I don’t want to do anything to hinder our victory.”

“Heheh, still convinced you guys can win?”

“Of course! IDOLiSH7 is a wonderful and passionate group. They can accomplish anything when they are together!” Her eyes sparkled with pride as she spoke.

“Seeing you get so excited...it’s my favorite thing in the world.”

“Gaku-kun!” Tsumugi began to blush and clung to his arm as she nearly tripped from surprise.

“Sorry, sorry, I just couldn’t hold back from saying that,” he sheepishly chuckled and patted the top of her hand.

“Ah, look! There’s everyone else heading into the hall now!” she pointed to the group of eight, who were now being led by Tenn and Kaoru.

“There you two are!” Kaoru exclaimed, hands on her hips as Gaku and Tsumugi entered the building. “Tenn and I were about to send out a search party if we didn’t hear from you soon!” 

“Sorry, Class 2-C’s haunted house was longer than we thought it’d be,” Gaku chuckled.

“Uuuwaa! You went in there!?” Tamaki cowered behind Sougo and peeked out over his shoulder. “That place was so freaky! Sou-chan dragged me through it.”

“It really wasn’t that bad,” Sougo said with a smile. “I thought they did a very good job. Not many haunted houses use the French Revolution as the theme.”

“Tsumugi got pretty scared when that one soldier during the siege of the jail jumped down and started chasing the couple in front of us,” Gaku said with a mischievous grin.

“Yes, but Gaku yelled out quite loudly when that big explosion sound effect went off at the very end,” Tsumugi said with a passive aggressive smile.

“They aren’t using honorifics anym—” Mitsuki began to whisper to Nagi, but was interrupted as ZOOL walked over.

“So, you decided to show up on time today! Good!” Kaoru jabbed.

“The festival was pretty lame,” Haruka said, crossing his arms. “We were bored and thought we might as well chill in the green room.”

“I could have explored around more…” Touma mumbled to himself.

Torao held back a little from his group-mates and wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone else. Gaku was burning holes into his head with his eyes. 

Tsumugi took a deep breath and let go of Gaku’s arm. “Alright, boys,” she began addressing her classmates with elevated excitement, “it’s time to start getting ready for your performance, and we should be getting out of TRIGGER’s way. Let’s head to the green room! We need to make sure IDOLiSH7 does their best!”

The seven cheered in unison and then jogged to their assigned room. After a quick bow towards everyone else, Tsumugi followed after them. ZOOL exchanged unimpressed looks then sauntered towards their room. 

“And how are my dear kouhais doing as they prepare for their song?” a smooth voice spoke through the sound system, making Ryuu and Gaku yelp and Tenn and Kaoru jump. 

“Yuki-senpai!” Ryuu held his chest and sighed. “Where are you?”

Yuki emerged from behind a curtain, holding a microphone and doubling over in laughter. “Did you—hehehe—see their—ahahoo—faces, Momo-kun?” He hopped off the stage and joined the highschooler emerging from behind stage also laughing. 

“I did, Yuki-san! Hahaha! Your voice sounded so handsome through the speakers too!” Momo said with admiration. 

“You have too much time on your hands, Yuki-senpai!” Kaoru said grumpily, trying to conceal a smile.

“Now, Kaoru-chan, I was just clearing the air, which is very important to do before a performance.”

“And now you have an accomplice, I see,” Tenn mused, looking at Momo.

“He found me at the beginning of the festival and has been following me around ever since. Apparently he somehow got a hold of those indie songs I recorded in my first year, and he loved them.”

“Oh no, he’s got an entourage now, we will never hear the end of it,” Gaku muttered to Tenn and Ryuu. “Well, we need to be getting ready for our concert now,” he said in a normal voice.

“Of course, go ahead and do what you need to,” Yuki encouraged. “I’ll be in the audience cheering you on and booing the others.”

“You don’t have to boo, Yuki-senpai,” Ryuunosuke said, “IDOLiSH7 has a lot of talent, and ZOOL has potential.”

“Potential to be scumbags,” Gaku grumbled. 

Yuki raised an eyebrow but decided not to address the comment. “Don’t let me keep you any longer, go get ready!”

The audience was larger than it was at the Takanashi High sing-off and was filled with more teen girls. They were all abuzz, chatting about the members and who should win the competition. TRIGGER went on stage first and thrilled the audience, then ZOOL performed second. The Yaotome crowd was more receptive towards ZOOL's song "LOOK AT..." than the Takanashi crowd, but Torao's dancing was more stiff and cautious than the day before. By the time IDOLiSH7 began their song, ZOOL was already beginning to leave for the day. Both Kaoru and Momo tried to convince them to stay for the closing of the sing-off, but they couldn’t be persuaded, due to the excuse that their manager had insisted they get enough rest for their festival and sing-off at their school tomorrow. The two remaining groups sent the audience off to vote and then began to pack everything up. Yuki stayed behind to help—and by help he gave orders to Momo, who was all too happy but to obey. 

Once all the equipment was taken down and prepared to be delivered to Tsukumo High in the morning, the kids started heading home. Ryuunosuke wished everyone a safe trip home as he began his short walk to the Yaotome High dorms just down the road. A limousine came by to pick up Sougo and Tamaki, who was staying over at Sougo’s house during the festival. A sporty car picked up Yamato, and Nagi and Riku caught a ride with him back to the Takanashi High dorms where they were living. Kaoru accompanied Tenn in his adoptive father’s car so that she did not have to walk home alone in the dark. Last to pull up was a bakery truck to take the Izumi brothers back home. Tsumugi checked her phone again, anxious that her father was not there yet to pick her up. As Gaku was walking up after retrieving his motorcycle, she got a text from her father saying that work at the school was taking too long and that she should catch a ride with one of the boys.

“But they all already left!” Tsumugi bemoaned out loud.

“Well, y’know,” Gaku slid up next to her. “I could take you home. You’ve been on my motorcycle before. And in case your old man gets home before us, I’ll stop the motorcycle where I did last time and just walk you to your house the rest of the way.”

“A-are you sure you don’t mind?”

“A chance to be with you longer?” He gently touched the tip of her chin, adjusting her head so he could look into her eyes. “Why would I ever pass that opportunity up?”

She giggled and tugged on his hand. “Then let’s go! I’m still a little uncomfortable about everything to go home by myself anyways.”

Gaku passed her the watermelon helmet as he got on. She put it on then cozied up close behind Gaku and wrapped her arms around his waist. This time was much less awkward than the first time she rode with Gaku, though they were both still blushing. As Gaku began to drive, Tsumugi hugged him tighter and rested her whole body against his back, her head not even able to rest on his shoulder. Gaku almost swerved at first from the sudden direct contact. Even though she was putting her full weight into him, she didn’t weigh him down much. In fact, it felt rather comforting to him to feel her chest rising and falling with each breath. 

They continued driving towards Tsumugi’s house, but as they approached the place Gaku intended to park his motorcycle, Gaku felt Tsumugi’s body shaking and quivering.


	14. Comfort Food

“Oi, you alright back there?” Gaku tried to say loud enough for her to hear over the sound of the motorcycle's growl. He could feel her press her face into his back and shake her head right and left. As soon as he could, he pulled up against the curb and parked. Once the rumble of the engine was quiet, Tsumugi’s sobs took over the quiet night air. “Aww, no,” Gaku uttered as he quickly got up and sat backwards on his motorcycle. He pulled Tsumugi into his chest and held her as she continued to cry. 

“I-I-I’m s-s-sorry, I-I just c-c-couldn’t h-hold it in a-a-anymore,” she said between heaves of crying.

“Hey, don’t apologize,” he softly rubbed the back of her head. “I’m here for you.”

“I-I don’t kn-know wh-what would h-have happened i-i-if you h-hadn’t shown up. A-a-and seeing h-h-him again and h-having to s-s-smile—” she buried her face more into Gaku’s chest and tightly grasped Gaku’s shirt as she cried harder.

Gaku hushed and whispered that everything would be okay as he continued to hold Tsumugi until she stopped crying. As she calmed down and her shuddering breathing returned to normal a few minutes later, she slowly released Gaku’s shirt and looked up at him. He smiled reassuringly at her, and she meekly smiled back.

“Feeling better?” he asked, rubbing the side of her arm lovingly. She nodded and sniffled, then pulled a handkerchief out from her purse and wiped her eyes. “Think you’re ready to walk back to your place now?” She nodded again and let him get up. He held out his hand and helped her stand. Once they began slowly walking, Gaku put his arm around her shoulders. “I’m gonna make sure you’re safe tomorrow. I’ll have one of our security guards—”

Tsumugi shook her head, “No, no, you don’t have to go out of your way like that. Just...don’t leave me alone tomorrow, please?”

“Understood, I’ll be with you wherever you wanna go. Except maybe, y’know, the bathroom.”

Tsumugi broke a smile and started laughing, prompting Gaku to do likewise. They continued down the sidewalk in silence, taking in the atmosphere and enjoying each other’s presence. As they arrived at Tsumugi’s gate, a rather loud stomach grumbled and ruined their peace. Tsumugi looked in shock over at Gaku, who was sheepishly covering his stomach with his other hand.

“I guess that performance worked up my appetite. I’ll have to grab something on my way ba—”

“You poor thing! I’ll make something for you, as thanks for going out of your way to bring me home. Come inside!” She unlocked the gate and began tugging Gaku by the hand to lead him up the walkway. 

“Woah, what about your old man?” Gaku resisted only slightly at first but then allowed her to pull him along.

“His car is still gone, so he is probably going to stop somewhere for food too. I’ll whip up something really quickly, and you should still have time to leave before he gets home.” She brought him into the house and through to the kitchen. “Just sit right there and I’ll see what I can get together.”

Gaku sat at the small breakfast table and watched Tsumugi putter around the kitchen. He allowed his mind to wander, imagining the two of them together, about ten years older, in a kitchen much grander but just as comfortable as the one they were in now. He was sitting at a larger breakfast table and was reading a magazine with a full page interview on TRIGGER. Tsumugi had a baby on her hip as she was preparing breakfast, and a toddler with silvery hair was on the floor playing with a toy piano. She skillfully plated a stack of heart-shaped pancakes and placed it in front of Gaku. He put the magazine down and leaned forward to kiss Tsumugi—

“—at are you doing?” Tsumugi’s voice broke into his illusion as she giggled and gently redirected Gaku’s leaned-forward head to face her instead of the wall. “It looked like you were about to kiss the wall.”

“N-nothing,” he mumbled, his ears and neck turning red. “So what do we have here!” He looked at the plate in front of him.

“It’s leftover curry I made the other day. I wish I could have made you some fresh, but I’ve been told this recipe always tastes better after a couple days. I hope you enjoy it.”

“I would eat anything you made, especially when I am this hungry. Thanks for the food!” He eagerly went straight into eating, savoring every bite. “It’s delicious!” he managed to exclaim between mouthfuls.

“Oh I am so glad to hear!” Tsumugi said, relaxing into the chair. “My friend Tachibana-senpai shared the recipe with me, even gave me a detailed step-by-step guide to follow. She said all of her friends in her theater club loved it.”

“Sounds like she knows her curry,” he replied as he chewed.

“She is trying to get a curry club started but—” Tsumugi cut her sentence short. “Oh no!” She leaped out of her chair and scurried to the window facing the street. “Oh no no no!” She dashed to the front door and locked it.

“Tsumugi, what’s wrong?” Gaku asked as he shoved the last spoonful in his mouth.

“My dad just pulled in! You need to go, now!” She hurried back into the kitchen, grabbed a small brown bag off the counter and pushed it into Gaku’s hands. “You’ll have to leave out the window, or he’ll see you run past the glass doors by the back door.”

“What’s in the bag?” he asked as he jogged after her while she ran towards a window and began opening it. 

“Just a few cookies I made. You can eat them when you get to your motorcycle. Just hurry and go, don’t let him see you!” 

The front door unlocked and slowly unlatched.

“That’s him!” Tsumugi said in a squeaky whisper. 

Gaku climbed out the window but peered back in, saying, “Thanks for the food, and the cookies.”

Tsumugi dropped her guard for a moment and smiled. “And thank you for making me feel safe.” She gave him a light peck on the cheek then pushed his chest away and shut the window.

“Tsumugi-chan, why did you have a window open?” Otoharu asked as he walked into the room.

“Dad!” Tsumugi whirled around and leaned against the window to block the view. “I-I thought I heard a kitten meowing outside and was checking.” 

He kissed her on the top of the head in greeting and tried to look out the window. “A kitten, huh? I wonder if it’d get along with Kinako.”

“Ahaha, it was nothing after all, couldn’t see anything out there.” She gently pulled her father by the hand towards the kitchen. “Did you have dinner? I could get you some leftovers?”

“That’s alright, I got something on the way home. Looks like you were hungry though. There are two bowls out.”

“O-o-oh, that. I had gotten a bowl out for you too, b-but since you were gone so long I thought I should eat it so it wouldn’t go to waste! I didn’t have time to eat much of a lunch so I was extra hungry.” Tsumugi was at the end of the line of how many lies she could tell her father and prayed he would stop questioning things.

“Is that why there are also two glass—” A distant “Myuu-myuu!” cut Otoharu’s next question short. “Ah, Kinako must be awake now. I should go feed her. I bet she’s hungry too.”

Tsumugi slouched with a sigh of relief as her father headed for the staircase. She quickly cleaned up the kitchen and made sure there was no more evidence that Gaku had been there. Then she went up to her room and sent Gaku a message to make sure he got back to his motorcycle safely. 

Gaku had been sitting on his motorcycle, munching on his second cookie when her Rabbit Chat sent. He smiled and replied back with his thanks and compliments on the cookies. As he finished the third, he sat and stared up at the twinkling stars just barely visible through the leaves of the trees above him. As he vacantly stared, his mind replayed the moment Tsumugi had kissed him on the cheek. Getting invited into her house, getting to eat her homemade cooking, receiving her cookies as a gift, having their first kiss—it was truly Gaku’s idea of a perfect night. He thanked the gods and started his motorcycle, then drove home singing the whole way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus points to whoever catches the other franchise reference I made in this chapter! >:D


	15. Re:connaissance

The last day of the sing-off arrived at Tsukumo High, and everyone was nervous for what to expect. IDOLiSH7, TRIGGER, and their managers agreed to explore the school together, just to see what things were like before they went out on their own, if they so chose. However, Momo had already agreed to explore the festival with Yuki, so he was only hanging around with the group until he got there.

Since Yuki didn’t wake up early unless he really needed to, it wasn’t until noon that he arrived at the school and texted Momo. “We’ll see you guys at the sing-off!” Momo waved at everyone else as he ran off to meet up with Yuki. He continued on until he got to the front of the main building where Yuki had said he would be. Momo looked around, and when he finally spotted Yuki, he stopped short and gasped. Yuki was sitting in the grass, his back leaned against the trunk of a tree. His arms were folded, his eyes just barely shut. Sunlight filtered through the leaves of the tree and illuminated his face. A gentle wind curled his silvery shoulder-length hair around the side of his face, framing his peaceful expression. Momo murmured, “How does he look so handsome and cool even when he’s napping?” He tiptoed a little closer, took out his phone and took a few pictures.

Unfortunately, the shutter sound was on and made it painfully obvious what he was doing. “Uuuwa!” he fumbled and shoved his phone in his pocket. He looked over at Yuki, bracing to get in trouble. A huge smirk was on Yuki’s face, and his eyes were tightly closed. His shoulders shook as he tried his hardest not to laugh. “Taking in the view, Momo?” Yuki managed to choke out somewhat calmly, opening one eye. Momo fumbled over his words and tried to stutter out an apology, which only made it more difficult for Yuki to hold back. He opened both eyes, and one look at Momo’s frazzled, blushing face sent him into laughter.

Momo relaxed a little, though was still confused. “So, y-y-you’re not mad at me, Yuki-san?” he asked meekly.

“No-ho-ho!” Yuki chuckled, wiping a tear from his face. “You looked like a little kid with his hand stuck in the cookie jar! Who could ever get mad at that pure face.”

“Oh thank goodness, Yuki-san!” Momo held his chest and heaved a sigh of relief.

“Now,” Yuki said as he picked himself off the ground, “what did I say about calling me Yuki-san? Just Yuki is fine.”

“Sorry, Yuki-s—Yuki.” Momo’s face flushed a little again. “So, what do you want to do?”

“Well, I heard something very interesting while I was sitting under that tree, and I want to investigate what I heard.”

“Oooh, is it some exciting booth?”

“No, something far more interesting, involving some spy work. Come on, we are finding ZOOL’s club room.”

“How are we supposed to find that? This school is huge!” Momo protested as he followed after Yuki.

“Conveniently for us, the student body is so full of themselves that they felt the need to create detailed maps for the guests.” Yuki pulled a folded paper out of his unbuttoned blazer. “They just have this section of the third floor of the secondary building marked as ‘Music Club Rooms,’ so we’ll just have to do a little exploring.”

Momo’s eyes sparkled as he praised, “You’re so clever, Yuki!”

“Fufufu, you can praise me more after we find the room.”

The two found the secondary building, and pretended to be interested in some of the attractions as they made their way to the third floor. When they got to the stairway leading up to the next floor, Yuki and Momo were stopped by a student who was posted to keep festival-goers from going beyond that point.

Putting on a rough and hurried attitude, Yuki said, “Look, all I know is we were told by that Tsukumo guy to come meet him in the idol club room to discuss changes to the sing-off. He sounded irritated, and I think we all know what happens when he gets like that.”

The student grew wide-eyed, nodded, and let them through.

“That was amazing, Yuki!” Momo said breathlessly as they hustled up the staircase.

“I’m just glad he didn’t ask any questions. Let’s see...it looks like there are placards next to every door, so the club room shouldn’t be too hard to find. Just watch out for any open doors.”

“Roger that!” Momo said with a lax salute.

They creeped down the hallway, peeking at the names on all the placards and sneaking past any rooms that seemed to be occupied. Near the end of the hall, they spotted the ZOOL's meeting room. Luckily for them, the door was shut, allowing Yuki and Momo to press their ears against the door and listen to the conversation going on inside.

“—many times are you gonna let us know your ribs hurt, geez!” Haruka could be heard saying.

“As many times as it takes for us to come up with a plan to make sure that soba-eating slug pays for slugging me!” Torao snapped.

“Both of you shut up!” an unfamiliar boy’s voice shouted. “I told you, I already have a sure-fire plan to make sure ZOOL wins this lame little sing-off. You little puppets just need to do as I say while I pull the strings.”

“And what is that plan, Ryou-san?” Touma asked. “You’ve been saying you had a plan since the start, but you haven’t told us anything. And we have trusted you enough that we did as you said and didn’t show up until last minute to Takanashi High, we’ve been cold to the other groups this whole time, and then we left early and barely interacted after we performed at Yaotome High. Even though I bet we probably pulled in the least votes at both schools because of it.”

“Down, Fido, sit!” the voice named Ryou taunted. “Don’t go barking at your master before he lets you in on a little treat.”

“So you are going to tell us now?” Minami asked with only a little bit of patience left.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll tell you now. But you better do exactly as I say! As you know, the votes for this ridiculous little display are collected and counted by a board member from each school, or done digitally in our school’s case. The fools from the other schools apparently could not be bought, and nobody would crack the digital system for me, so we can’t throw the votes. So I thought to myself, what if we make it so that there is no choice but to vote for ZOOL? We pull in enough of a crowd that no matter how many votes you get at the other schools, as long as you get everyone’s votes here, ZOOL is guaranteed to win!”

“Gah, you ramble on more than an anime villain!” Torao complained. “Just tell us what the plan is and cut out the useless details!”

“I was about to get to it,” Ryou hissed.

At this point Yuki had to keep motioning for Momo to keep quiet and resist the urge to burst in the room. Yuki pulled out his phone and began recording.

Ryou continued explaining, “To ensure ZOOL’s win, we have to make sure TRIGGER and IDOLiSH7 do a horrible job during their songs, or perhaps find a way to disqualify them. I want you four to do everything in your power to sabotage their songs. Mess with their hair and makeup products, ruin their costumes, tamper with the sound system, get creative, I don’t care. There, that’s the plan. Now go forth, my little minions, go do what your master commands! I’m going to go survey the school security cameras and make sure the rest of my servants of darkness are doing what they are supposed to when I am not looking.”

Yuki and Momo scrambled to their feet and hurried to the staircase, making sure to appear calm as they walked past the student standing guard at the bottom. Just as they assimilated into the crowd of students on the second floor, the members of ZOOL were walking down the stairs.

“‘My servants of darkness!’” Haruka mocked in his best impression of Ryou. “Geez, you think that guy will ever leave his chuuni phase?”

“I still don’t see why we couldn’t just try our best to win on our own talents. He won’t even let us give it a chance,” Touma grumbled.

“It’s easier on us in the long run if we just listen to him,” Minami rationalized, “Remember he threatened to disband the club if we don’t comply to his whims.”

Torao scoffed. “I don’t even care about all that right now. Ryou’s plan aligns with my desire to get back at that punk for punching me and that airhead for making me look bad in front of all those girls at the pool.” His voice faded away as the group walked down the hall.

Momo tugged earnestly on Yuki’s arm. “We need to stop them!”

“That is exactly what we are going to do,” Yuki said with a determined smile as he patted Momo’s hand. “You and I are going to do everything we can to make sure this sing-off goes on exactly as planned.”


	16. Carnival Games

“I gotta admit,” Mitsuki said as he caught up with the rest of the group, “Having their own petting zoo with a pony ride is pretty extravagant and unnecessary, but those animals sure were adorable! Those bunnies really seemed to love you, Iori!”

“I didn’t notice.” Iori tried to put on a stone face, though his rosy cheeks betrayed him. 

“Aw, c’mon, you were enjoying them just as much as they enjoyed you!” Mitsuki tickled Iori’s side, making him yelp and trip into Riku’s back.

“Nii-san!” Iori grumbled as he righted himself and smoothed out his clothing. “Forgive me, Nanase-san.”

“Hehe, it’s fine. You and your brother get along so well,” Riku’s smile faded as he turned and looked over at Tenn, who had been keeping his distance the entire day. 

“Guys,” Tsumugi chimed in, dragging Riku’s attention away. “I think we have time for one more attraction, if we see an interesting one on our way to the concert hall.”

“We still haven’t found any King Pudding here!” Tamaki spoke up. “How can I make a post on the Pudding Club’s blog if we don’t find any?”

“Maybe we can look around for a dessert booth,” Sougo suggested.

“Or they could have a King Pudding plushie as a reward at those carnival games we noticed near the main building,” Ryuunosuke added.

“Oh yeah I wanted to try those!” Mitsuki said.

“It might be better if we split up then,” Tsumugi mused. “Some of us can find dessert booths, and the others can try their luck at the games.”

Headed by Tamaki and Sougo, Tenn, Kaoru, Yamato, and Riku went in search of pudding, while Ryuunosuke led Gaku, Tsumugi, Iori, Mitsuki, and Nagi to the carnival games.

“I still can’t get over how elaborate this place is,” Tsumugi said to Gaku as they approached their destination. 

“These games aren’t even hosted by the students, they were hired out.” Gaku gestured to a sign that listed the names of sponsors.

“Hey look!” Mitsuki pointed out, “I see a giant King Pud—”

“ _ OH JESUS! _ ” Nagi exclaimed. “There’s the Silver Edition Magical Kokona Nesoberi! Only released at select carnivals! I must win it!” He dashed off to the booth.

“Hey, we are here for Tamaki, not you!” Mitsuki ran after him, lecturing and yelling the whole way.

“Well, I guess that leaves the rest of us to try to get Tamaki-kun that big plushie,” Ryuunosuke chuckled.

“I’m admittedly not very good at these games,” Tsumugi said sheepishly. “But I will cheer you boys on if I don’t have good luck!”

“Let’s try to match the games with each of our best skills to better maximize our chances of winning. These games are often rigged to make you spend more money unless you have enough talent.” Iori put his hand to his chin and looked at their options. “There’s a ring toss and balloon darts. I am fairly good with darts, so as long as nobody has objections, I’ll try that one.”

“I can try the ring toss,” Tsumugi volunteered. “There’s also that duck shooting game.”

“I could try—” Ryuunosuke started, but was stopped short by Gaku.

“Ryuu. I’ll take that one. You go to that strength test over there. I’m sure you can win that no problem.”

“O-oh, right. I’ll give it a try. Good luck, everyone!” Ryuu called out as everyone dispersed. 

Iori ended up doing fairly poorly in the balloon darts, earning him only a small pink rabbit stuffed animal. He went to the stall next door where Tsumugi was still at the ring toss. She ended up doing fairly well on her third round, though not well enough to earn the King Pudding. Instead she got an Usamimi stuffed animal.

“Aww, you won such a cute toy!” she cooed when she met up with Iori. “This Usamimi is nice and soft, but it doesn’t exactly match with my room, so I’m not sure if I’ll keep him.”

Iori’s eyes shone for a moment and his cheeks flushed. “I-it would be wasteful to get rid of him. Plush figures like that are usually worth something, I-I am sure.”

“True, but I would rather it go to someone who could appreciate it.” Tsumugi couldn’t help but compassionately smile as she watched Iori squirm and stare at the plushie in her arms. “I’ve got an idea. How about you and I trade prizes? That rabbit would match in my room and is really adorable, and I am sure you can find this one a good home. How about it?”

Iori blushed more and nodded. “Yes, I can manage with that plan.”

“Yarrgh! One more time!” Gaku’s voice traveled from a couple stalls down.

Tsumugi and Iori investigated, only to see Gaku out of the little booth stool and intensely shooting at the wooden duck targets. He managed to knock down quite a few, but as he did, the speed of the targets’ motion increased enough that he couldn’t hit any more.

“Ack, I was only two away this time!!” he grumbled as the person controlling the game placed another prize in a small pile next to Gaku.

“Gaku! How many times did you play?!” Tsumugi asked in shock.

“Oh, Tsumugi.” Gaku quickly put his wallet away. “Th-that was my fifth and final try. I was so close to getting the grand prize, which woulda been the Pudding.” He gathered up the prizes and offered them towards Tsumugi. “But at least I won you all of these.”

“Thank you!” she said as she blushed and tried to hold them all with the one from Iori. “Hopefully Tsunashi-kun had better luck”

“It’s a strength game, he’s a shoe-in for winning,” Gaku said confidently. “Let’s go check on him.”

There was a very loud crowd huddled around the strength test, with some sort of ruckus at the epicenter. Gaku helped drive a gap through the people so that he, Iori, and Tsumugi could see that was going on. Ryuunosuke and another boy were sitting at a makeshift table, their right hands clasped. Both were struggling equally hard to push down each other’s hand.

“What in the world?!” Gaku was in disbelief. “How did a strength test turn into arm wrestling? Ryuu! What are you doing?”

“I’m-a-lit-tle-bu-sy, Ga-ku!” Ryuu struggled to say, nearly getting his opponent’s hand down, only to be pushed back once again.

“Excuse me,” Tsumugi turned to a female student standing next to her, “What started this?”

“Both of those guys hit the bell one after another, so to decide who gets the prize, they chose to have an arm wrestling competition. They’ve been at it for about five minutes now!”

“Goodness, how have their arms not given out yet,” Iori said rhetorically. 

“Let’s cheer on Tsunashi-kun, and hope he can win that King Pudding,” Tsumugi suggested.

The three cheered him on, as the two continued to go back and forth. Ryuu almost lost, but his opponent showed a moment of weakness near the end. It was just enough to give Ryuu the chance for a final burst of strength to push his hand completely to the table.

“And the Beast is the winner!” the referee called out.

“I said just Ryuu was fine,” Ryuunosuke sheepishly muttered as he shook his opponent’s hand then waved to the cheering crowd. The referee brought over the giant King Pudding and gave it to Ryuu. “Thanks! And, uh, sorry about the dent in the bell.” Smiling so wide that his eyes almost disappeared, he walked over to Gaku, Tsumugi, and Iori. “Thanks for cheering me on! Having friends nearby made it easier for me to press on.”

“Congratulations, Tsunashi-kun! Your perseverance is incredible!” Tsumugi said with a bounce. “And you even managed to win the plushie for Tamaki-kun! He will be so excited!”

“Way to show off, Ryuu,” Gaku commented with a grin.

“Excellent showmanship, Tsunashi-san,” Iori said approvingly.

“Haha, thanks, guys! I was really trying my best. I’d hate to see Tamaki-kun disappointed.”

“We should find my brother and Nagi-san so that we can rejoin the rest of our group,” Iori said as he began scanning around. “Ah, I think that blonde-haired person over there is Nagi-san.”

They met up with Mitsuki and Nagi, who had ended up spending both his own and Mitsuki’s money to get enough chances at the basketball booth to win the Kokona doll. Once Tsumugi sent a Rabbit Chat to Sougo that they had found success, the six of them wandered around the outdoor stalls until the other half of their group showed up.

“WOAH!” Tamaki came running up to Ryuunosuke who had been holding the King Pudding in his arms. “That’s the biggest one I have ever seen!”

Ryuu happily offered it to Tamaki, who eagerly accepted it. “I’m so glad I was able to win it for you then!”

“I hope it wasn’t too much trouble,” Sougo said apologetically.

“It was no trouble at all, just a strength test and an arm wrestle. I’m used to doing those at festivals back in my hometown. My little brother and I used to arm wrestle all the

—”

“Boys, it’s getting late!” Kaoru said, tapping her watch. We need to head to the green room, especially since Ryuu is all sweaty now.”

“Ah, you boys should probably go too!” Tsumugi said as she looked at her own watch. “Even though we are on last, it takes so long with all seven of you getting ready.”

The group continued on together towards the music hall. As they walked, Riku felt someone nudge his back. He turned to see a serious-faced Tenn staring into his soul. “Gah, T-T-Tenn-ni—!”

“This dropped out of your pocket a moment ago.” Tenn held up an inhaler medication canister. 

“That’s my spare! How did it—”

“I saw you use up the rest of your other one while we were looking through the stalls. Had I not noticed this fell, you would have gone without it right before going on stage. Be more aware of your own health before recklessly jumping into a foolish dream.” He pushed the canister into Riku’s hand and hurried ahead with Kaoru and his group-mates.

“Tenn-nii...so he does still care about me…”


	17. Sing-off Day 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics to "DIAMOND FUSION" are referenced in this chapter, so I recommend listening to it around that point or at the end of the chapter~

“Alright, like we planned,” Torao instructed as he and the rest of ZOOL went into the auditorium, “me and Haru are in charge of sabotaging TRIGGER, and Touma and Mina are in charge of dealing with IDOLiSH7. We should mess with their greenrooms before they get here. Then after that we will tamper with their equipment.”

“I still feel disgusting agreeing to this,” Touma sullenly said as he and Minami went into the room meant for IDOLiSH7.

“Would you rather see our club dismantled and put to shame if we don’t?” Minami rebutted. “I’m not the most fond of this idea either, but sometimes in show business drastic measures must be taken for your own self-preservation. We won’t do anything to injure them, just delay things and make them look unprofessional. Now let’s hurry and get to work.”

Momo and Yuki crept out from their hiding place behind the sound equipment as the members of ZOOL dispersed. “Alright, Momo,” Yuki instructed, “Let’s make sure they don’t cause too much damage and clean up after them. Did you send that Rabbit Chat like I asked?” 

“Yep! Ban-sensei said he’d be by as soon as he could with the spare equipment and other stuff you wanted him to bring.”

“Perfect.”

IDOLiSH7, TRIGGER, and their managers arrived, and ZOOL was already in their greenroom with the door shut. “Should we say hello to them?” Tsumugi asked Kaoru. 

Kaoru put her hands on her hips. “Did they ever come visit either of our rooms? No, they didn’t. They aren’t worth our professionalism. Let’s just keep our heads down and do what we have to and be done with them.” She flipped her hair off of her shoulder and turned to go help TRIGGER get ready for their performance.

“Emergency!!” Tamaki dashed out of the greenroom and yelled.

“What’s wrong?” Iori and Sougo asked, somewhat startled.

“All of the pudding I put in the fridge this mornin’ is gone! Yama-sannn!?” Tamaki grabbed Yamato’s shirt. “Did you eat all my lucky pudding??”

“Of course not!” he shoved Tamaki away and smoothed out his collar. “Why would I do that right before a performance when I know you get like this?”

“Did you see the containers in the garbage or anywhere else?” Mitsuki asked.

“It’s like they went and disappeared!” Tamaki grabbed his head in frustration. “I gotta have a lucky King Pudding before I go on stage!”

“Tamaki-kun,” Sougo put a hand on his back and tried to speak soothingly. “You saw yourself we couldn’t find any pudding here. Are you sure you can’t manage without it just this once? Can't that giant stuffed pudding Tsunashi-kun kindly won for you be enough?”

“But I wanna do my best, ‘nd make our school proud of us,” Tamaki said dejectedly.

“Hey, did I hear someone say King Pudding?” Momo had just walked into the room, holding up a bag from a konbini. “I just happened to go get myself a snack, but you can go ahead and have these, Tamaki-kun.”

“Momorin!” Tamaki rejoiced as he greedily received the bag. “Momorin’s the best!”

“Aww, haha, you’re great too!”

“I can give you the money to pay for those,” Sougo tried to offer.

“Nah, it’s fine! Just make sure he doesn’t eat them all in one go.”

“That is peculiar that they just disappeared…” Iori contemplated to himself, a hand to his chin. 

“Nagi-kun and Riku-kun are done getting their hair done!” Tsumugi announced, “Tamaki-kun, Sougo-kun, it’s your turn!”

“Nagi-san…” Iori looked at him in horror when he walked out. “Wha-what happened?!”

“ _ OH PLEASE!! _ ” Nagi hid his face in his hands. “Don’t look at me. I’m hideous!”

“The stylist used the wrong product,” Riku began to explain woefully, “She used something that had chlorine in it, because the label was covered up with the label to another product. So, it kinda turned Nagi-kun’s hair...that weird green color.”

“How will I face the audience looking like a villain from Magical Kokona?” Nagi continued to sob into his hands.

“Maybe you can wear the hat from Mitsuki’s outfit?” Riku tried to suggest.

“And risk casting a shadow on my beautiful face? I couldn’t!”

“Having troubles?” Yuki casually walked over.

“Ah, Yuki-san,” Iori bowed quickly and continued, “We are just fin—”

“Wasn’t your hair blonde?”

“ _ YES! _ ” Nagi covered his face and sobbed, “But now it is this terrible color!”

“I think I noticed a can of yellow hair spray dye somewhere. Let me go find it.” Yuki disappeared into the deep backstage area, pretended to rustle around a few boxes, then pulled the can out of his blazer pocket and walked back over. “Here it is. This should cover up the green enough to not see it from the audience.”

“ _ OH! MY HERO! _ ” Nagi jumped for joy and took the can, then trotted off to tend to his hair.

“Well, I am going to go check on my kouhai now, excuse me,” Yuki somewhat abruptly left.

“Why was the label on the wrong product?” Iori mused aloud.

“Iori-kun, Yamato-kun, please come get your makeup done!” Tsumugi called.

As Yuki opened the greenroom door, he was met with Kaoru pacing furiously around the room and Gaku and Tenn standing around Ryuunosuke, who was holding a torn-up jacket. “What’s wrong?” he asked, putting on a surprised tone.

“Wrong? WRONG??” Anesagi shouted sarcastically. “Oh, just somehow Ryuu’s costume jacket has been ripped to shreds!”

Ryuu held the jacket up for Yuki to see. “It’s like a tiger just raked its claws through the back of it.”

“How are they supposed to perform with Ryuu without a jacket!?” Kaoru stomped her foot. “The symmetry will be thrown off!”

Yuki stood in thought for a minute, then suggested, “Have him go ahead and wear the jacket, but only for a short while at the beginning, so his back isn’t seen. Then, on the second ‘Show me what you got!’ line, have him rip off the jacket and toss it offstage. Gaku then rips his jacket off after ‘Dance to you like fall in love’. And lastly, Tenn rips off his at ‘Going! Going! Break through, our fusion’ at the end of the song.”

“Hmm,” Tenn considered for a moment. “So it would be similar to what we do for ‘Leopard Eyes', only we spread it out through the song.”

“Exactly,” Yuki said confidently and proudly. 

“I think it might work! I like it,” Ryuu’s usual hopeful smile returned.

“The girls will like it too,” Gaku said with a smirk.

“Says the one with the girlfriend,” Tenn snidely remarked.

“I didn’t mean it like that, you little imp,” Gaku growled.

“Guys, please,” Ryuu sighed. “We need to finish getting ready, not start bickering.”

Down the hall from TRIGGER’s greenroom, Haruka sneaked back to the rest of ZOOL. “Nothing’s worked so far! They even worked around the ripped jacket!”

“You’re kidding!” Torao cursed and crossed his arms. “Did Yaotome find his little surprise yet?”

“Didn’t sound like it.”

“Tora, what’d you do?” Touma looked at him quizzically.

“Oh, just something as karma for punching me,” he chuckled sneakily. “Let’s just say his girl won’t wanna kiss him for a little while.”

“Oi,” Gaku stuck his head out of the doorway, “has anyone seen my water bottle?”

“Oh, here, Gaku,” Tsumugi passed him a plastic water bottle. “Momo-kun said he filled it up for you but forgot to put it back.”

“Thanks!” he took it and took a sip from it before going back into the room.

“What in the world…” Torao grumbled. “That was a different bottle than the one I tampered with! He was supposed to get a mouthful of lacquer tree sap.”

“Couldn’t that have seriously hurt him anyways?! Tora that’s messed up!” Touma raised his voice.

“Wouldja keep it down? He would’ve realized it before he actually drank from it, so it probably would’ve been alright. It just would have made his lips swell and itch like crazy. Come on, we gotta go mess with their equipment before it’s time to go on.”

“We can’t though, look,” Haruka pointed over by TRIGGER’s equipment, which was being blocked by Yuki receiving a box of spare microphones from Banri. “Even their stuff is being guarded too!” he said as he gestured to Momo leaning against an extra speaker and chatting with Mitsuki. 

Before they could do any more, a stagehand announced, “ZOOL, you are up soon! Schedule got pushed up ten minutes. President Tsukumo is already starting to intro the event!”

“Ryou’s gonna have our heads if we don’t do anything to sabotage them, isn’t he?” Haruka said as they scrambled to get ready.

“Maybe we can buy him a severance gift and try to convince him it wasn’t our fault,” Minami suggested.

“I say we just stick with my original plan,” Touma said, “and just put on our best performance to wow the crowd. We are good enough to win without having to cheat our way to the top.”

“Yeah yeah, save the group solidarity speech for if we actually win. Let’s get on stage.” Torao grumpily put on his mic pack and headed for the stage stairs.

ZOOL’s performance went on, and the crowd did indeed give them roaring applause. They were much more friendly to the audience than they had been towards the others, and made sure to really emphasize voting for ZOOL to win the sing-off. The four stalked off the stage, and rather than immediately go into their greenroom, they lingered and watched TRIGGER go on. 

“I can’t believe it,” Torao watched in disbelief as Ryuunosuke walked past, wearing the ripped jacket. “Why is he still going up in that?”

“Hey, Tenn!” Haruka called out, making Tenn turn back and stare at him. “Your boots look a little unstable. You sure you wanna wear them?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about. You’re going to make me late.” Tenn continued with the others.

“What is going on,” Haruka whispered to Minami, “I half broke off the heels of his boots so they would snap during the performance. But they look fine!”

“Maybe they had a spare pair or some way to repair them,” Minami suggested. “And those two are still hanging out over by the equipment. Usually they go down into the audience. It’s almost like they knew we were going to tamper with something.”

“Touma did you—” Torao began but was cut off by Touma.

“I didn’t say a word! And nobody was around when Mina and I messed with things.”

“Then how did they know to have spare microphones brought in after we had tampered with the other ones, and how to stop all of our other plans?”

“I dunno, Torao. Maybe they overheard us while we were planning, or maybe, they just guessed it was us after so many mishaps were happening and after how lousy we’ve been acting. We should have never listened to Ryou.” Touma glanced up and saw Momo, still leaned against the speaker, looking at them. When they made eye contact, Momo smiled and waved. Touma responded with a strained grimace of a smile and a weak wave. “What’s done is done. Let’s just go wait and see how everything blows over.” He began walking towards their greenroom. 

“But what about my revenge?” Touma grumbled.

“Touma is right,” Minami soothed, “we’ve done what we could. If we try anything else we could get implicated. Save your revenge for another day.”

“I really wanted to see Tenn get sad,” Haruka pouted. “He might’ve actually cried for once.”

“Can that guy even cry? He looks like a doll,” Touma remarked.

As ZOOL's door shut, the audience began to cheer loudly as TRIGGER entered the stage.


	18. Results Are In

TRIGGER’s performance went wonderfully, and Yuki’s modifications to the choreography to work around Ryuunosuke’s ruined jacket was a huge success. The excitement built every time one of them removed their outer jacket, and the three executed their moves with near perfection. The crowd cheered for them much louder than they had for ZOOL. Next up was IDOLiSH7, whose performance also went without issue, thanks to Yuki, Momo, and Banri’s vigilance over the equipment. Haruka would occasionally peek out the door to find an opportunity to cause trouble, but none showed. The four brooded until they were called back to the stage to close out the sing-off and send their audience to go cast the final votes. 

“You sure we can’t tamper with the votes?” Haruka whispered to Torao as they forced smiles while walking off stage.

“Positive. Ryou said the other schools had the votes casted on paper, and those have already been counted and added together. Then the votes from tonight are all done through the school’s app, so they are counted automatically. That’s how we can know the results so fast.”

“Just give up on it,” Touma grumbled. “If we lose, we deserve it.”

“ZOOL?” a deep man’s voice rang out behind the group of four.

“President Tsukumo, sir!” Torao grabbed the back of Haruka’s head and made him bow with him. 

“I just heard something from a very interesting video I was sent, that my son has been coercing you into things you might not have wanted to do. If he tries to disband your club, I’ll be sure that he is reminded that he is not the one truly in control here. Since there is no evidence you four tampered with anything and the sing-off went smoothly, I will only be limiting your club activities for a short time as punishment. You boys have potential to make it big, so keep at it the honest way, and you can go far.” He nodded in acknowledgement to the mixed “Thank you”s and “Of course, sir”s from ZOOL and then walked away.

“See, even he said the honest way,” Touma said with newfound confidence. “Next chance we get, we are definitely doing things my way instead. I wanna proudly stand on stage with you three by my side.”

“You’re really trying to channel that Shounen main character attitude, aren’t you,” Torao teased. 

“You sounded so cheesy,” Haruka covered his mouth as he snickered. 

“Fufu, if you felt so strongly you should have spoken up sooner,” Minami said coolly. 

Touma looked at the three of them, slightly confused. “What, I just wanna make ZOOL a group that can stand tall and fight the world.”

“Wow, he got even cheesier,” Haruka laughed once again. 

“Guess it wouldn’t hurt to try it your way once,” Minami conceded. 

“If we totally crush those other two groups with our power alone, I guess that would be pretty cool,” Torao crossed his arms and tried to appear aloof. 

“You guys really need to work on saying what you really mean,” Touma couldn’t help but break into an exasperated smile. 

*****

“The votes are in!” the principal’s voice rang through the PA system throughout the school. “Please listen as we announce the winner of the Tri-High Sing-Off!”

“May the best group win,” Gaku said to Tsumugi as everyone gathered in the backstage area to hear the results.

“Thank you,” she said with a quick bow and a confident smile. “I am sure IDOLiSH7 will win!”

Gaku laughed and shook his head.

Tsumugi cocked her head slightly and looked at him innocently. “Why are you laughing?”

“It’s nothing. You really believe in those guys, don’t you.”

“Of course! They all work so hard, and they’re my dear friends.”

The PA system started up again, this time the student reporter was giving the results. “Thank you for everyone’s attendance and participation in this charity sing-off. We would like to personally thank our own Tsukumo Prep for bringing in the largest audience, which in turn means they brought in the most amount of money to give to charity!” 

After some applause, the student continued. “Now for the results of the sing-off! In third place, we have a group we all know well, ZOOL, from our very own school. Thank you for your hard work!”

During the pause for applause, the members of ZOOL were in disbelief. “Not even second place?!” Haruka kicked the wall.

“We totally lost, how freaking humiliating,” Torao hung his head and clenched his fist.

“It was karma for what we tried to do,” Minami said plainly, trying to conceal his disappointment.

“C’mon guys, this isn’t the end of ZOOL!” Touma tried to encourage them. “We’ll make a comeback after this, I just know it.”

IDOLiSH7 and TRIGGER looked at each other with knowing looks mixed with the satisfaction that ZOOL did not beat them and the hope that their own group would win.

“Next, our second place is taken by Takanashi High’s IDOLiSH7! And that makes the overall winner of the sing-off TRIGGER from Yaotome High! We would like to thank you for sharing your talent and entertaining us, while helping contribute to charity! Please, join us in fifteen minutes when we hand out the awards on the outdoor stage behind the main school building!”

Gaku, Tenn, Ryuunosuke, and Kaoru high-fived, hugged, and cheered. “I just knew you three would pull it off! I bet it was this last performance that helped push us forward,” Kaoru said. 

“And we couldn’t have done that without Yuki-senpai’s idea,” Ryuunosuke replied. “I still can’t believe how fast he had come up with a plan.”

Tenn added, “And Momo-kun was very helpful in finding that tube of superglue to fix the heels of my boots.”

“Do you think we’ll be able to repair my jacket though?”

“Ryuu, you’re worried about that now?” Gaku laughed. “With the money we just won from this, we can buy entirely new costumes and then still have enough to help fund our debut!”

“TRIGGER-san,” Tsumugi walked forward with IDOLiSH7 in tow. She bowed low with the rest of them and said, “Please accept our congratulations! It was an honor to go against you.”

“Your skill pushed us to do our best,” Tenn said with a slight smile. 

“It was fun working with you guys, I hope we can do it again!” Ryuu said, all smiles.

“We would be honored,” Iori spoke up. “But please be prepared, we will win next time.”

“I don’t doubt you’ll do your best, especially when you have such a determined and skilled manager,” Gaku replied while staring intently at Tsumugi, making her blush.

“We should get to the stage for the award,” Kaoru walked in front of Gaku, breaking his gaze. “Good working with you all—”

Kaoru stopped short, since ZOOL was slowly exiting their greenroom and walking over. “Congratulations,” Torao said with barely any emotion.

“Congrats, I guess,” Haruka muttered.

“Good working with you,” Minami added with a professional bow.

“We’ll come back even better next time!” Touma promised, holding back his emotions.

“You better. The way you behaved, it’s no wonder you fell short,” Tenn turned on the heel of his boot and walked away.

Torao made brief eye contact with Gaku, who had been giving him a deadly glare ever since he had spoken. He quickly looked away and went back into the greenroom. Gaku went to Tsumugi’s side and asked, “Wanna come celebrate with us after the awards?”

“But, we didn’t win.”

“You didn’t get first place, but both our groups beat ZOOL, and that’s reason enough to celebrate together. Plus,” he leaned in closer and lowered his voice, “I’m not ready to leave you yet. We’ll meet up with you guys in the parking lot.” He smirked and walked after Tenn and the others.


	19. Celebratory Soba

At the center stage, the principals of the three schools were there to present TRIGGER with the reward check. Yaotome gave a brief spiel about why his school could produce such a winning group and how he would match the total of the reward to give to the charities they were supporting. Takanashi spoke of the power of music and how it brought so many together for one cause. Tsukumo closed out by touching on how proud he was of his school for putting on a successful festival and hoped they would continue in excellence. ZOOL did not attend the ceremony, but IDOLiSH7 did, out of respect.

Once the ceremony was over, everyone got changed, grabbed their belongings, and met up in the parking lot. At Gaku and Yuki’s request, Tsumugi and Momo rode with the Yaotome students in the school van Rinto had shown up in. Banri with IDOLiSH7 followed them to Yamamura’s Soba shop where they would celebrate together.

“We had the party room booked already, so there should be plenty of room for all of us,” Gaku was commenting as they walked into the restaurant. 

“Welcome! Oh, Gaku, it’s you!” an older, slightly chubby man called from behind the counter. “The party room is ready, so head on in!”

“Thanks, pops,” Gaku replied and led the group through a set of sliding paper doors. The room was decorated with streamers and balloons, and on the back wall was a sign that said “Congratulations, TRIGGER!”

“They were that confident they would win?” Mitsuki muttered to Iori. 

“That reminds me, I have to tell Mother to take down the sign at the bakery…” Iori mumbled to himself as he pulled out his cell phone. 

“Oh, I wonder if we will see that last delivery guy we got!” Riku recalled. “You should see him, Gaku-kun! He looked so much like you, it was crazy!”

“I’ve seen that guy around. And we don’t see the likeness. We both agreed I’m more handsome. Pretty sure he’s not working tonight.”

“You sure know a lot about this place,” Yamato said quizzically.

“I hang out here on my off days,” he replied, then glanced at Tsumugi with a hint of a smirk. 

Soon a waiter came through and took their order, and later he and another arrived with all the food. Everyone chatted away in lively discussion over the happenings of the past three days, all while eating their fill. Normally Banri and Rinto would have been drinking, but since they still had to drive the kids home, they stuck with non-alcoholic drinks. They went for seconds, then had some dessert. Around 10:30, Banri warned that they should start winding down and get ready to go home.

“Before you leave,” Gaku said to Tsumugi, “could we go for a little walk?”

“Oh, s-sure!” Tsumugi replied slightly nervously as she got up. “I’ll just grab my sweater and we can go.”

“Great. I’ll meet you outside the doors.” He turned to Tenn and Ryuunosuke. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Mhm, sure,” Tenn mocked with an air of sarcasm. “We will see you soon, Lover Boy.”

“Can you ever say anything like a normal person?” Gaku clenched his fist.

“Ooh, keeping your date waiting, what a gentleman you are,” Tenn shook his head as he ate another dango off his skewer.

“Uhhhg!” Gaku grouchily jogged towards the exit. As he did, he saw Tsumugi sitting at the main counter, smiling and talking to a very lovely dark-haired woman behind the counter. “Gyaa!” He nearly tripped as he continued forwards. “Tsu-Tsumugi!”

“Oh, there you are, Gaku!” the woman said, putting her hands on her hips. “You were keeping this pretty girl waiting! Not very gentlemanly!”

“Not you too, Ma!” Gaku smacked his forehead in frustration.

“M-m-m-ma!?” Tsumugi stuttered in surprise, looking from the woman’s face to Gaku’s and then back. “You mean this is your—”

“That’s right! I’m his mom! And that old man who greeted you was my dad. Well, I shouldn’t keep you two. It’s good to finally meet the one who’s been making my boy stare romantically into the abyss while he’s making soba noodles. You should come by again for dinner sometime, then I can share the _really good_ Gaku stories I have.”

“ _ Maaa!! _ ” a red-faced Gaku almost growled as his mother began walking into the back and laughing. Gaku sighed heavily and brought his attention back to Tsumugi. She was blushing too. “Sorry about her. I promise I didn’t go out of my way to tell her. She has this creepy ability to read my mind when I least want her to, and she cornered me.” 

As they began walking out and down the sidewalk, Tsumugi shook her head. “I-it’s fine, she seemed really nice. But I was wondering, if your mother knows, shouldn’t our fathers know too?”

He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “Probably, soon. I want just a little more time without them on our backs about anything. Are you okay with that?”

She was silent in thought for a moment, and finally replied, “Only for a little bit longer. I hate keeping secrets, and I think he is catching on that I am hiding something. But...I’m also afraid of what my dad will do to you once he finds out.”

“Do to  _ me _ ?” Gaku questioned, a glint of concern in his eyes. “You mean you aren’t afraid he'll be mad you’re dating someone from an opposing school and ground you or something?”

“Well, he might worry about that a little bit. But, more importantly than that,” she nervously played with the ends of her hair as she talked, “y-y-ou’re my first real boyfriend. A-a-and my dad is sort of protective over me.”

“Ah,” was all Gaku could say at first. After a quiet minute or two of walking, he managed to say with a smirk, “Y’know, you’re my first girlfriend too.”

“Really?” she said as she looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Well, unless you count that one girl in kindergarten who kept claiming I was her boyfriend,” he tried to keep a serious face, but ended up cracking a smile as he watched Tsumugi’s face go from scared to a relieved smile in a flash. “In any case, we are both still figuring out how this relationship stuff works, so there is no need to rush anything. But you know, I’m gonna miss seeing you every day like I did these past three days.” 

“It was really nice spending so much time with you,” Tsumugi said bashfully as she played with her hair. 

Suddenly Gaku stopped walking and faced her, grasping her hands in his. “Promise me we’ll still make time to see each other, even though we’re at different schools and have our club duties.”

“O-o-o-of course!” she nodded emphatically. “A-and if we can’t see each other, we can make sure we at least talk or message every night.”

He smiled and turned to walk back to the restaurant with her. “Good,” he said, slipping his hand into hers as they began walking close together.


End file.
